Dependable
by Have-A-Laugh
Summary: In the aftermath of a villain attack that has left Mob in a coma, Ritsu must face some uncomfortable truths with, or without, his brother.
1. Comfort in Consistency

Being at the hospital gave Ritsu a lot of time to think. More time than he knew what to do with.

Ritsu held his brother's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Mob didn't squeeze back. His hand was chill and swollen from disuse. _Nii-san, you always had poor circulation._ Ritsu smiled and watched the unnatural way his brother's chest rose and fell. The machine pumped air down his throat in regular intervals, hissing and cycling mechanically as it did so.

He often cycled between talking to his brother about what was on the TV and sharing memories and stories. Always something he would enjoy- maybe enjoy enough to wake up to hear. When Ritsu got tired of talking he paged through Nii-san's charts filled with information that meant nothing to him, or played games on his phone. Sometimes he'd even fall asleep on the chair and wake up sore a half an hour later. He rubbed the top of Shigeo's hand with his thumb. Nurses would pass through every half hour and check Nii-san's vitals, or check the puncture wound in his neck. During these times Ritsu would be shoo'd from the room and he'd wander to the soda and snack machine. He'd stare at it blankly for a time before buying something and heading back to the room and waiting outside on a chair until they finished. Back inside, Nii-san's hair usually looked more disheveled and Ritsu would brush his hair smooth, just like Nii-san did each morning after he woke up. When he ran out of things to do, he was left to think and review the last few days.

Its was late at night when the call came in. The Kageyamas piled into a car with only what was in their hands and they wore on their backs. The Training Camp was attacked by Villians, the man over the phone said. Shigeo Kageyama was admitted to the hospital but they couldn't tell them more. Not over the phone.

So they drove fast. They drove recklessly. Ritsu's father didn't care that he parked the car so it was taking up two parking spots, not as long as it got them out of the car faster. He didn't care about the parking ticket he'd get that next morning, either. Ritsu could understand why. All the energy they could put into caring about anything was put towards his Nii-san.

The lobby was cordoned off by police and heroes. With great scrutiny, only special personnel or families were let through. The receptionist's face was neutral when she gave them Shigeo's room number in the ICU.

ICU was a scary term to Ritsu. It brought images of bandages so thick and numerous it was hard to tell where the person underneath began and the bandages ended. It brought images of patients twisted and torn who were just recently put back together and only vaguely recognizably human.

He didn't expect to see his brother seemingly unmarred except for a bandage on his neck and IV lines in, and floating around, his arms. His eyes were open, a bright white light shining out of them. Ritsu's heart stopped. It didn't look like how it expected it at all.

His brother, _his nii-san_, was only half on the bed. An arm floating here, a leg there, his chest lifted off the mattress, floating just below the surface of some ocean drowning. Then his eyes would flicker like light bulbs in a faulty socket and gravity would return, only for other parts of his body would lift instead.

Ritsu watched as the last of the IVs slid out of his brother's arm, reared their heads like cobras and twisted violently around themselves until the lines broke and the bag's contents drip, drip, dripped onto the floor.

"...specialist is being flown in. They are a foremost world expert on quirk based toxins." Ritsu listened in to the Doctor's reassurances, because if he kept looking at his brother his emotions would get so dark and heavy his chest might cave in from the sheer gravitational pull. "Your son is lucky they were in country for a conference. She has delayed her plane home-"

"Is Shigeo going to survive?" Ritsu's mother nearly doubled over as if the pain the question caused her was too much. His father placed a hand on her back and rubbed in slow circles. "_Please! My baby boy, is he?_"

The doctor had a moment where his face went expressionless and Ritsu's heart fluttered into his throat in an attempt to escape the event horizon at the center of his he said, "Your son has survived this long, despite our prognosises. His quirk has been active since he lost consciousness four hours ago and while none of our instruments can get accurate readings on him, we think this hyper activated state is keeping the toxin out of his brain and killing him. However, I don't think his quirk can filter the toxins out of his body. That is what Dr. Petrov is going to help him with."

It wasn't a yes or a no, but it gave Ritsu something to hope for and he used whatever he could to ease the rising pressure inside him. Ritsu turned back to his brother, half floating above his bed, while his mother sobbed behind him.

A half an hour later Dr. Petrov arrived, her hair messily tied back, in scrubs that were still being tied on by an annoyed nurse. The Kageyamas stood from the chairs they were waiting in outside of Shigeo's room. Dr. Petrov didn't acknowledge any of them but she brought new life into the room. She barked orders while looking at a sample of _something. _From the information the doctors were yelling at each other, Ritsu gleaned it to be the original toxin used on his brother.

Ritsu bit his lip and shoved down the surge of emotion that elicited. He couldn't distract her now,not when she was going to save Nii-san. Dr. Petrov's finger extended into a sharp needle point as the nurses and doctor explained the situation in terminology that was foregin and incomprehensible. She stabbed her finger into the vial of toxin, draining the contents, and then after a minute of shaking her hand, poked into Shigeo's neck with the same needle-like finger. Then they waited with bated breath till Shigeo's limbs gradually became heavier and came to rest on his bed. His eyes fluttered closed, and the glow faded.

It was still in the room for the first time in a while.

Smiles broke across all the faces of the nurses, techs and doctors. The Kageyamas broke down with relief outside, and they hugged each other.

At least, until one of the Nurses said, "He's stopped breathing."

Ritsu went cold and stiff. The room exploded into action, a team of nurses and techs rushing into the room with equipment. They intebaited his brother in front of him. Teams of nurses attached new IV's, and hooked up the monitors again, which screamed the moment they connected to his brother's body.

It might have only been a few minutes, but it was ages Ritsu stood there, pressed between his mother and father who clung to him like he, too, might slip between their fingers if they weren't careful. Ritsu watched uselessly as his brother skirted the line between life and death.

Eventually, the machines stopped screaming. Eventually, they were let into the room. Eventually, the doctors said, he would wake up.

That was three days ago.

Ritsu watched the UA interview with great disdain for his brother's teachers. They all bowed in their crisp suits, giving empty apologies to the reporters for things they should have been capable of doing. Questions regarding the injured and kidnapped students began to crop up. Reporters barely gave UA a chance to breathe before the next question was asked. Ritsu looked over at his brother, unmoving.

"How can UA reconcile the fact that you let villains take one student and have another who is currently in a coma and might not wake up? What does it say about UA if not one, but two of its students are lost under your care?"

The question ripped Ritsu's attention away from his brother and anger flowed off of him in hot, tense waves. _Don't talk about him like he's dead!_

Ritsu's dad suddenly stood and turned off the TV with such force he collapsed the wall mount and slammed the TV into the wall. The sound made both Ritsu and his mother flinch back. His father stormed from the room with a clenched jaw.

"Ritsu, _please_," his mother said with an edge to her voice as she followed after her husband. She didn't look back as she left the room.

Ritsu sucked the anger back into himself. He ought to be more careful.

That was two days ago.

The world outside seemed to be crumbling as quickly as Ritsu's was inside that hospital room. When he woke the next morning, the news was soundlessly playing. His parents were gone, probably picking up something for them to eat at the cafeteria downstairs. Ritsu was alone, stiff and curled awkwardly on the couch to the right of his brother's bed. Ritsu turned up the sound on the TV.

"Kamino Ward was destroyed overnight," said a reporter with a tense smile, "and this morning All might is retiring."

It cut to All Might. He bowed to the world as he made his farewell, encouraging everyone to trust the heroes who remain, for they were in good hands. It was a well meaning speech. All Might's smile was still unfaltering despite his bandaged arm tucked inside his suit jacket, and his skeleton-esque appearance. He didn't change back, or muscle up at the end.

The world watched the symbol of peace pretend not to hobble off the stage. The permanency of it all was earth shattering.

He still had Nii-san. This hospital, this coma, this _danger_ was all temporary, Ritsu told himself. Soon, Nii-san would be back home and this would all fade with time. With his brother, they could adjust to this new reality together.

That was yesterday.

Today, his parents approached him while he held Nii-san's hand and looked out the window at the city. The glare of sunlight off tall, glass sided skyscrapers turned them into glowing pillars. Cars rolled along like toys while people milled around as little dots of color on the sidewalk below. It wasn't quiet, with the mechanical lung working behind him, but it was consistent, and there was a comfort in consistency.

"Ritsu, honey," His mother said quietly. She waited for him to turn and look at eyes were tired and sad. Ritsu could sympathize. "We are going home today."

"When are you coming back?" Ritsu asked, wondering if they could pick him up some new clothes. The hospital was sterile, but Ritsu wasn't, even if the doctors let him use their showers.

"We'll all visit later.," she said hesitantly, "but it's time _we_ go home and let Shige rest. The doctors will call us if anything changes."

Ritsu's eyes widened, but his parents just started packing his things into a plastic bag they got from one of their convenience store runs. There wasn't much, so it didn't take long for them to finish and look at him expectantly.

"It's still summer break. I can stay can't I?" Ritsu looked between them, jumping from one parent's eyes to the wavered.

"We need to let Shige rest in peace," his father said.

_But he's been resting this whole time, don't we _want _to disturb him? _Ritsu chewed his tongue, a panic rising in him that made him feel like it was five years old and helpless again. "I don't want to leave yet. What if he wakes up and no one his here?"

A soft smile crossed his mother's face. "Oh Ritsu, we can't stay here forever." _It's just until he wakes up,_ Ritsu thought, but he didn't interrupt. "We can't put our lives on hold, Shige wouldn't want that. You need sleep in a real bed and you need real food. You've been so brave through all this, we need you to be brave for just a little longer."

_Brave…_ Ritsu didn't know how he felt, but brave was a good word to tack on the ambiguous emotions boiling beneath the surface. He could be brave. Someone others could depend on. Someone Nii-san could depend on. "O- okay, but we will still visit right?"

"Yes, of course!" His father placed his hands on Ritsu's shoulders and held him firmly. "This is not us abandoning him, we just have to take care of ourselves, too."

"Of course," Ritsu agreed. They were right. He was fourteen years old, of course he knew they were right. He was starting to look like he'd need a room in the hospital soon. Dark circles, rumpled clothes, and lethargic look in his eyes.

The rooms were cold in the hospital, but outside the August heat brought an immediate sweat to Ritsu's forehead and he squinted under the light of the sun. The car wasn't much better and they rolled the windows before pulling out of the parking ramp. Ritsu opened and closed his hand, the ghost of Shige's hand still palpable. At home, they parted ways and went wordlessly to their rooms. Ritsu changed out of his sweatshirt and smell of hospital disinfectant was overwhelming the room even when he buried them in his hamper. After ten minutes Ritsu couldn't stand it. He took his dirty clothes, threw them in the wash, and ran it. When he returned to his room, the smell was gone.

Many hours later, Ritsu couldn't ignore his hunger anymore. Looking at the clock, he could see why. He'd skipped lunch and was fast approaching an early supper. Ritsu wandered towards the living room but he stalled when he heard the hushed whispering of his parents in the middle of a conversation. Ritsu padded across the floor and stood next to the doorway.

"...gotten hurt before."

"Never like this!"

"A lot of kids get hurt at this school. What about his friend with the green hair? He fights by breaking his limbs and the teachers allow that? This is the best school Japan has?"

"I can't- I can't send him back." his mother lamented. "I can't.."

"We can pull him from the program," his father offered. Ritsu's breath caught in his throat, but his father continued, "but what would Shige say? He has worked so hard to stay in this school."

"We're his parents, there is nothing he can say," his mother said. Judging by the creak of the couch, she'd sat up straighter. "Ritsu, honey, is that you?"

Ritsu flinched and stepped around the corner. "I'm sorry, I just wanted something to eat. I skipped lunch."

His parent's eyes went wide and they both scrambled to their feet and into the kitchen. "We're so sorry, we- we forgot. We should have fed you," his mother apologized.

"No, it's okay, we all forgot." Ritsu threw up his hands and tried to wave it off. "There is just a lot going on today."

It didn't seem to ease the anxious and guilty looks on their faces, but they didn't try to counter his point. They somehow got a basic curry on the table in under 30 minutes. Nothing exceptional, the veggies were a little undercooked, but it was comforting and filling. When they finished, they all sat in silence until his mother sighed and reached for their empty bowls.

"I got it." Ritsu took the bowls off the table to the sink, while his parents muttered a thank you and stared at the wall, their eyes heavy with exhaustion. Their son still wasn't any better and they still had to be adults. Ritsu didn't have any responsibilities while he was on break. He could be strong for them.

Anyway, it was easier to cope while he was moving. When he stopped, Ritsu would sit in his room while his quirk fizzed and popped under his skin, its effects diffused into the air around him. The Kageyama brothers were cursed with quirks that fed off of their emotional state. Mob could at least keep the effects of his power bursts localized to himself by clamping down hard on his emotions.

Nii-san seemed to do it with ease. Meanwhile, Ritsu laughed bitterly as he tried to stop the flow of emotions with the same efficiency of stemming the flow of a river with his bare hands.

Ritsu dressed for bed and he curled on his futon, thankful for the distance from his parents' room. He didn't want his powers to affect them now. Too much emotion one way or the other was dangerous. Nii-san understood that. His brother was so much stronger than him like that. Ritsu wished he knew how he did it. He should ask him when his wakes up.

Two days later, Ritsu decided to go to a preterm student council meeting. He was the president, so of course he pulled himself from bed and dressed himself in something business casual. He'd seen the messages on his phone, letting him know he didn't have to come in. Nothing too important was being decided today that the vice-president couldn't handle. Take care of yourself, they told him.

Ritsu went to the kitchen and reheated leftovers. He sat at the table and saw a note from his parents. They were off to work and left a shopping list for when he returned from his meeting. They ended it with a thank you.

_Take care of yourself, huh?_ Ritsu took a bite. He struggled to swallow, but he did. _This is me taking care of myself_.

He had fifteen minutes to eat before he left. He spent most of that time staring at his food. When his time was up, he put the bowl with the spoon still inside back into the fridge for later. He'd be hungry when he got back, even if eating now made him nauseasous.

Ritsu pocketed the note and his wallet, then set out for school. It was before nine, but Ritsu could tell it was going to be a hot and muggy day. Seeing people going about their lives was almost surreal to Ritsu. Perhaps the shock of Kamino didn't reach all the way to Seasoning City. Except all their lives _did_ change, irreversibly so. Ritsu observed not one person acting like it.

Along the way, Ritsu passed the old playground he and Nii-san played at. Ritsu's feet dragged as he reviewed memories of them playing with their quirks, back before they knew how dangerous they were. Smiling as Nii-san lifted objects, Ritsu winding them up into laughing fits as his joy overflowed from his little body into his brother's. So many nights they came home jittery like they were at the precipence of the most incredible a sugar high. Nii-san once threw up, he got so overexcited.

Ritsu blinked and looked at his phone. He'd been standing there for over ten minutes! He broke into a run to the school house,feeling stupid that he was going to make himself late because he was daydreaming.

The school was devoid of of the hallways and classrooms were dark and closed off. His shoes squeaked noisily across the linoleum floors that were freshly waxed over the break. He turned the corner and while the student council room door was half closed, there was light and conversation inside. Ritsu slowed to a fixed his hair and tried to steady his breathing, but his skin was still flushed and his breaths heavy when he entered the room. His peers froze when he came in. Some of them, their jaws dropped open ever so slightly.

"Ritsu-san? Did you not see our messages?" a second year asked.

Ritsu, still huffing slightly, nodded. "Yes, I saw them, but I'm the Student Council President and this is the first meeting of the term. Of course I have to be here."

They watched him tensely, waiting for something to happen. A girl glanced around the room like she would see something appear in the air around them.

"What about your brother?" His vice-president asked. "Are you sure you're okay enough to be here?"

_You're not going to lose control?_ The question hung heavy in the air, thick as the humidity. The AC wasn't on in this room, and he could feel sweat beading on the back of his neck. Ritsu swallowed, he could feel that hard, dense bead in his chest thrumming and sucking everything toward it, it made him nauseous. Fortunately he didn't eat much this morning. Despite it all, when Ritsu checked internally, his quirk remained dormant. Ritsu breathed in and sat down at the head of the table.

"Nii-san wouldn't want me to throw away my responsibilities," Ritsu said.

"We just don't want to add more stress," another student said. "I mean, should you be there for your brother-"

Another student, Hideki, smacked the student's shoulder and shook his head. Everyone in the room had a mournful or apologetic look. _Why did they look like his brother had died?_ There was a pinch in Ritsu's chest, but it was only momentary. Ritsu knew Nii-san was going to get better. This was scary, but it was temporary. People wanted to talk about the worst, but how could they not? Everything was great before with All Might at the helm, but the world had changed and no one knew what was going to happen next. Even the most powerful people aren't unshakeable.

Even so, Ritsu could depend on the fact his brother would pull through. Ritsu respected his brother. He was the strongest person he knew.

"This'll help take my mind off things for a while," Ritsu told them. "Can you pass me the notes? ...Thank you."

He read through the was short, and they were right. Nothing of importance was happening this meeting that needed his presence. They laid in the ground work for term two at the start of summer break, before Nii-san's training camp. Ritsu hardly got to see his brother before he left for camp, he was working so hard. It didn't matter then. They were going to have the rest of August anyway.

"Ritsu-san?" Someone asked, concerned.

Ritsu snapped from his thoughts and checked internally. His quirk was still under control, but it was now buzzing under his skin and gave him goosebumps despite the heat. His bottom lip was trembling too, so he pressed his lips together to still the movement.

Then with as much authority as he could muster he said, "Let's start with item one, club paperwork inventory. Any changes to the list of clubs we identified with missing paperwork?"

The meeting lasted an hour. An hour of people tip toeing around him despite having so many questions in their eyes. Ritsu thought it would have calmed him, distracted him, _something_. Instead he left the room his head feeling fuzzy and overcrowded with thoughts he didn't want to deal with in front of others. Or maybe he was just hungry. He hadn't really eaten yet.

"Hey, Ritsu-san?" his vice president gently grabbed his shoulder, prompting Ritsu to face him, "I really respect what you did today."

"That was?"

"You showed dedication to the first years. A strength of character." He spoke with a kind smile, hinted lightly with sadness. "Just.. just make sure you take care of yourself too."

Ritsu returned the sentiment with a polite smile. "Thank you Ito-san. I am, though. This'll all pass in time."

"You know you don't have to sound all wise, right? We are still middle schoolers." Ito laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "I'll see you at the start of fall term. Let me know if you need anything."

Ritsu nodded and left without saying another word. _Trying to sound wise? It was true, wasn't it. This was all temporary._ Ritsu closed his eyes. He let his gait wobble, immersed in thought. _Did I visit Nii-san yesterday?_ Ritsu came to a stand still. He hadn't been back to visit Nii-san since he left the hospital two days ago.

A feeling of resolve stuck Ritsu like lightning and he turned off his path home to the nearest train station. He rode two hours to the hospital and was almost turned away at check in until the receptionist scanned his ID. He apologized and let him through, his face was not nearly as neutral as that first receptionist five days ago. Along the way to his brother's room, Ritsu noticed security at every corner that he hadn't noticed before. Ritsu didn't put much more thought into it once he reached Nii-san's room.

He pulled up the desk chair, grabbed his brother's hand and just sat. No thinking. No talking. Just enjoying the comfort of silence in this brother's presence. Around 1 pm a nurse gave him a jello cup with a look of pity on her face. Ritsu counted that as lunch for the day. At 3 pm though, he was kicked out of the room so the nurse could bathe Mob and check the various tubes they had attached to his brother.

Something about the idea of Nii-san still needing something so simple as a bath caused Ritsu's hands to shake and his stomach to turn. He hadn't thought of all the things Nii-san couldn't do while he was like _this _for so long. Ritsu shoved his hands into his pockets and felt his parents note crumple against his fingers. He complained that it was cold in here and mentioned off handedly that he better get home. The nurse gave him the courtesy of a goodbye, but she was probably just as happy to see him leave as he was happy not to have to watch her work.

After the train ride home and grocery shopping, it was around six in the evening. Ritsu left the store and checked his phone. He locked again, ignoring the '_missed call' _notifications on the lockscreen. When Ritsu returned home, his parents were having a hushed conversation at the table. He couldn't make out the he stepped into the room and greeted them, they fell quiet. His dad folded up a letter. It looked like a bill.

_From the hospital? _Ritsu wondered, but he kept his curiosity from showing.

"Ritsu, where were you?" His dad asked.

"Out." Ritsu said, then added before they could dwell on it, "I got the groceries you asked for."

He began putting them away, feeling the intensity of their stares on his back.

"Why didn't you answer our calls?" His mom asked.

"My phone died," Ritsu lied, the power was low, certainly, but the eight missed phone calls and messages in his voicemail were there unopened.

"Next time, can you please leave a message when you'll be back," his dad said, exhausted. "Or bring a charger."

"Yeah, I'll make sure to do that next time." Ritsu nodded. When curiosity got the better of him, he asked nonchalantly over his shoulder, "What were you guys talking about?"

Surprisingly, they answered. "Some of Shige's teachers are coming tomorrow to talk about his continuation in the program."

Ritsu's fingers dug into the zucchini he just bought. He made his voice as even as possible. "Really? That's… interesting. Are you going to talk with them?"

"We are," His mom answered, but offered no more than that.

Ritsu chewed the inside of his couldn't think of a way to ask for more information without aggravating the bead of pressure within his chest and risking exploding on his parents. He couldn't do that to them.

He acknowledged the answer with a neutral hum and finished putting away the groceries. He took extra care to hide the zucchini with the five suspicious bruises towards the back of the fridge.

"What are we eating tonight?" Ritsu asked as he held the fridge open.

"Left overs,"his mom said apathetically. "I don't have the energy to cook tonight Ritsu. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Ritsu took out his breakfast, put it back into the microwave and popped the spoon in his mouth. He might as well finish his meal. Ritsu removed the spoon and asked, "Do you need me to make you something?"

They shook their heads 'no,' so he didn't push them. His parents didn't talk anymore about the meeting tomorrow. Instead, when they did talk, it was about bills or about what help extended family had offered to ease their stress. Aunts, Uncles, and Grandparents wanted to visit Shigeo but didn't know how. Ritsu didn't understand why they made it harder than it needed to be.

"Don't they just go in and ask for his room?" Ritsu interjected before taking the last bite of his food.

"Well, no," His dad said. "We have to get them cleared by security and on the visitor list, or the security the school hired won't let them pass. Not- not just anyone can go visit your brother."

"Oh..." Ritsu said.

It was all Ritsu wanted to say as he left the table. It was all Ritsu wanted to dwell on as he left the table. His mom reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Thank you, Ritsu." She said with earnest eyes. "This has been hard on your father and I and we appreciate all the work you've been putting in here at home and with school."

Ritsu smiled a small, tired smile. His mom squeezed his arm gently and let him go. Ritsu turned away quickly and cleaned up his dish before his parents could see the tears prickling in the corners of his eyes. He didn't want to explain them, because honestly, he didn't know why they were there. His mother's words made him happy, but not that happy.

When he got to his room, his quirk felt like it curled off his skin and into the air like steam. Ritsu resigned himself to distractions until either his quirk came back under control or he fell asleep.

Ritsu fell asleep.

Crunching dirt under rubber tires and the rumble of an engine brought Ritsu's attention from his homework. He had finished it already, but there was nothing else to distract him now that his mother had kicked him out of the downstairs so she could clean. Ritsu had been keeping up with most of the cleaning, but his parents were anxious and it was hard not to synchronize with their nervous energy.

A black car had just pulled up in front of his home. Two men, both in white dress shirts and ties, stepped out faced the front door with determined faces. Ritsu was surprised to see All Might walking alongside a shorter, black haired teacher. Ritsu was certain it was Mob's homeroom teacher Aizawa-sensei. His brother kept the honorific attached to the name, even at home when his teacher wasn't there to hear him speak otherwise.

Ritsu glared down at him now. _He was there and my brother got hurt._

Aizawa stopped in his tracks and for a moment, Ritsu wondered if he could feel his animosity from the second floor. But he just turned around and spoke to All Might, who seemed to be taking his time getting something from the back seat. Still, the dark thought clung heavily to his skin as Ritsu went to the stairs. His father was crossing the bottom of the steps heading to the door when he spotted Ritsu. He opened his mouth to say something when the doorbell rang behind him. He stopped to look back at it.

"Are you going to get the door?" His mother said in the living room, the sound of last minute cleaning still audible from the second floor.

"I am!" His Dad called back to her. He looked up at Ritsu. "Your mother and I are going to talk with the teachers alone this time. It'll only be an hour or two."

Ritsu could feel himself bristling and, given the way his father flinched and took in a deep breath, so could he.

"We'll be having lunch with your grandparents, then going to visit your brother afterwards. So use this time to get ready. Shower, relax-" The doorbell rang one more time, and his father started to move towards the door. "It'll be quick. Good morning! Welcome to our home."

Ritsu stayed at the top of the stairs just long enough to see the two men enter. All Might, as gaunt as he was, still struck an imposing figure in such a small space. They met eyes and All Might looked startled to see Ritsu watching. Ritsu could feel his hostility seeping into the air around him and he stepped away from the top of the stairs and out of sight down the hall.

"Who is that?" All Might asked.

"That our other son, Ritsu." His father could be heard softly behind him but whatever he said next was just incoherent, muffled sound to Ritsu.

Ritsu thought about taking his father's advice and waiting in his room. Yet, his curiosity had already gotten the better of him the moment that car rolled up. He gave them a head start and waited till they closed the living room door. It was only fair to say he gave the appearance of giving his father's advice a chance. He was careful not to let a single board creak, or let a gram of his quirk leak from his skin. Ritsu wanted to avoid disturbing the conversation happening one room over. By the time Ritsu was at the bottom step and listening in, they had apparently concluded their introductions.

With courtesy out of the way, Ritsu assumed it was the teacher All Might who spoke got straight to business."Have you had a chance to consider the letter UA has sent regarding our new Boarding Program?"

_Boarding? _Ritsu's brows knit together.

"We have, and we've talked about it over the last few days." His dad told voice was grave. "We've talked about a lot over the last few days regarding the effect this program has had on the health and well being of our son, but we wanted to hear your thoughts first."

He most likely looked gravely serious, too. His mom said they got their scary faces from their father. His dad said they got them from their mom. Both Nii-san and Ritsu had been on the receiving end of both for lesser things. Ritsu could hear one of the teachers cough awkwardly and Ritsu didn't hold back the smirk that crawled across his face. They couldn't see him, so Ritsu felt free to look as petty as he wanted.

Aizawa spoke next, his tone painfully apologetic as he proceeded to beg his parents. "I would like to ask with the utmost humility whether you would kindly see fit to return your child to UA. I know he was grievously injured under our care and we have taken every opportunity to examine and improve what we can do to ensure the health and safety of the children entrusted to our care. We'll show you without fail what a fine hero we'll raise your son will be if he continues in our program."

There was a pause in the conversation. Perhaps his parents were supposed to say something to this. Ritsu had so many things he wanted to say. _You were there! You were there and you couldn't protect him then and you think you'll do better now because you've taken the opportunity to rethink things you should have been doing all along? What kind of heroes teach at this school?_ Ritsu clamped his hands over his mouth, because at that moment if a single sound slipped through it would not be words that would emerge, but a long, feral scream.

While Ritsu felt the pressure building in his chest, Aizawa softly continued. "Shigeo is a good student. He… He is one of the best I've seen in my time teaching at UA. He comes, not only equipped with but _driven by_ values that I usually have to teach to the hero students in my classes. His presence in the hero course has had positive effects on every hero student that has had the honor of spending time with him. The hero program at UA would be lesser without your son in it. I know we have failed you, but that will not happen again. Again, I humbly ask you return your son, Shigeo Kageyama, to our care and tutelage."

Ritsu was shocked from his anger listening to Aizawa's speech, and so too were his parents as his mother spoke in a soft tone. "I… We didn't know that. Shige doesn't talk much about his time at school. We also…" Did she sigh? Ritsu couldn't quite hear. "If Shige is being targeted still, we cannot protect him, not here. If we did witness protection there is no guarantee someone determined couldn't find Shigeo. That terrifies us."

Ritsu felt the pressure in this chest return.

His dad spoke next, his voice more curt. "Our lives were simple before our son joined your program. He had his club, his friends, and his part time job. He wasn't the brightest student, or the most personable kid but he was happy…. or so we thought. He has changed since going to your school."

"More confident," his mother cut was kindlier, but there was an edge to her voice she seemed to be fighting. "He's grown a lot in the last year, but that doesn't out weight the terror we experienced that night when we got the call to hurry to the hospital because our son might not make it."

Ritsu could hear the creak of the couch as weight was shifted. He so badly wanted to see the teacher's faces as his parents tore into them. They didn't even try to defend themselves.

"We aren't happy with the state your program has left our son but... we know he has a fighting chance in your care. You have our blessing, please take care of our son."

"What?" The teachers asked in unison, aghast.

"What?!" Ritsu yelled through his hands, the room went silent on the other side of the wall but Ritsu didn't care. It wouldn't be for long as he burst through the door causing his parents to jump and the two heroes to tense defensively. "What do you _mean_ they have your blessing?"

"Ritsu!" His mother scolded him but he didn't give her a chance to finish.

"After all you just said, you're going to let him go _back_ to that place?" Ritsu could feel the blood rush into his face, his pulse quickened and that pressure in his chest thrummed in time with his heart. "He hasn't even _woken up yet_!"

Aizawa stood and faced Ritsu who flinched back. Aizawa's face was stoic. _Was he going to remove him from the room?_ Ritsu wondered. He gritted his teeth trying to hold his fury in.

Aizawa then bowed to Ritsu, "I apologize. I failed-"

"_You were there,_" Ritsu hissed, startling Aizawa into silence with the venom in his voice. "Don't apologize to me when it's _my brother_ you failed. Don't apologize like you have _any idea _what I am going through."

"Young Kageyama?" All Might stood up as well.

Ritsu felt cornered as the four adult seemed to loom over him. Their faces a mixture of pity, shock and concern.

"My brother is in the hospital, because you-" Ritsu was livid but it started to mutate into something much worse.

Ritsu gasped as he struggled to breathe, everything he has held in for the last week was crushing his lungs. He felt tears pool along his lids and watched as they started to gather in the corners of his parents' eyes and the teachers too. All Might wiped his eyes confused, but Aizawa seemed too shocked and let them flow freely.

"Ritsu, wait." His father stood, wiping his were more panicked than sad.

Ritsu couldn't wait. He couldn't stop.

"He can't- just- I'm- _Nii-san..._" Ritsu felt like he was going to force inside him was pushing up and out and it was directly preceded by the one thing Ritsu wanted to refuse the most. He dropped his face into his hands and let out a strangled cry. "How can you just stand there? I don't even know if I'll ever get my brother back! I just want my brother back!"

The bead of pressure ruptured within him and burst forth in a thick suffocating wave of emotions Ritsu had been avoiding to address. At the forefront was _grief_. Ritsu stumbled back into the wall, his mind railing against it all. _How could he grieve? His brother was not dead. Yet how could he not lament at his own helplessness?_

"Ritsu!" His mother cried out but she was choking on his anguish and fell to her knees.

"What's happening?" Aizawa demanded back at his parents, he was furiously trying to stem the flow of tears from his eyes and catch his breath as his body reacted to an emotion that was not his.

"Eraser, I think- I think it's a quirk." All Might said, he was steadying himself against the couch as if the weight of Ritsu's influence was physically pressing him into the was a growing edge of desperation in his voice, "Can you erase it? I think he's lost control."

"I have to _see him_ to use my quirk!" Aizawa snapped back. He was grasping at the air around his neck and shoulders like something should be there before turning that hand to his eyes and trying to clear away the tears instead. "I can't see through all this water! Damn it!"

Ritsu slumped down to the floor. Over and over, he repeated, "I just want my brother back…"

His quirk lashed out around him, spilling over the room and twisting with the force and violence of a hurricane. The world had changed when Ritsu wasn't looking and he wanted to refuse that reality. His brother was his rock and this wasn't how it was supposed to go. This couldn't be it. Nii-san left to waste away on some hospital bed, alive but dead. How? It didn't make sense to Ritsu and he didn't want it to, because that would make it real, wouldn't it? That would make it a possibility.

Yet, All Might stood before him, gaunt and sickly, and forced to retire prematurely. What world was ever a possibility? Villains attacking and defeating his brother without him even having a chance to fight back? That shouldn't have been possible, either. As he got deeper and deeper into these horrifying realities the room got darker and smaller.

Two hands clasped his shoulders and Ritsu gasped and looked up All Might's sunken blue eyes.

"Young Kageyama," he said with such force and authority that he brought Ritsu's negative spiral to a standstill. "We are not here to say we can understand your grief because it is your own, but you cannot hide from it. You have to face it head on and accept it. I can tell you now that I understand having to put on a brave face for others, but you cannot use it on yourself."

"What?" Ritsu trembled with leftover nervous energy. Maybe what he said didn't fully resonate with him, but All Might's words had enough presence to break the cycle. Once the initial wave was stopped, it quickly lost all momentum and faded to a dull ache. Ritsu was left feeling increasingly hollow and tired. "What do I do if he's gone?"

All Might looked down, a deep sadness in his eyes, but this was his own sadness, not Ritsu's. He met Ritsu eyes again. "You find ways to move on, but isn't that a little premature?"

He added that last part with a smile. It was small, soft, genuine, and understanding. Ritsu couldn't be mad anymore. Even if he still wanted to be.

"I just-" Ritsu started but he couldn't finish as All might pulled him into a hug.

All Might said it so softly Ritsu wondered if it wasn't meant for him: "I want them back too."

All Might didn't linger and he let Ritsu go and offered him a hand up. Ritsu stood without it, still in a daze. Partially from the emotional revelation he just experienced and the overexertion of his quirk both left his mind is a thick haze. Aizawa had his head leaned back and he was rapidly blinking the tears from his eyes and letting them drain down the sides of his face. The skin around his eyes was very red and swollen.

Ritsu couldn't take it in for long before his parents nearly tackled him into the wall crying their apologises for not noticing the pain he was in sooner. Ritsu leaned his head into their shoulders and breathed. His throat and lungs were tender from crying so it was enough to be held and to breathe, even if it was only for a minute.

Ritsu's parents stepped back and turned to Mr. Aizawa and All Might and bowed slightly. Ritsu saw where this was going and with the embarrassment of his outburst catching up to him he dropped into a bow too.

"We apologize for our son's behavior," they said together.

"I'm sorry," Ritsu said quickly after. He didn't want his parents to get in trouble for him using a quirk on heroes. _Oh god, I used my quirk to attack two pro heroes, one being All Might._

"It's really-" All Might started to say nervously when Aizawa who just finished blinking the last tear loose cut in.

"You know," Mr. Aizawa said, exhausted, "I kinda deserved that, but don't think that means what you did was right, or _legal_ in anyway."

Ritsu felt a strange buzz in the back of his head, like something was just shorted out. The oddly distinct feeling of touching an electric fence with a blade of grass and feeling a numb sensation pulse in your fingertips. Ritsu glance up to see Mr. Aizawa's eyes glowing. His hair that wasn't tied down was raised up like Nii-san's. When his hair fell back into place and his eyes darkened the feeling went away.

"I won't report this, you were under extraordinary stress. This is also our first meeting of the day and I get the feeling I don't want to add more to my workload if I'm able." Aizawa sighed, then addressed his parents more formally. "Do we still have your permission to teach your son?"

"Yes," His mom and dad stood tall, then glanced at Ritsu, who kept his face downcast. "But only if Shigeo wants to return."

If life was poetic Mob would have awoken when he sensed his brother's distress, but life isn't poetic like that. Much later that night, after family and friends had completed their visits, the night shift nurse found Mob pawing weakly at the tube down his throat. It wouldn't be until that next morning he was allowed to breathe on his own, nor would he be fully coherent until late in the evening that same day.

Three days later, Mob, only back home for less than forty-eight hours, was packing the last of his belongings into a box. Ritsu waited patiently by the door for his brother to finish. He watched him intently, amazed by any movement his brother made.

Mob pulled the packing tape across the seam of the box, and followed with his free hand securing a solid seal. He pushed the box wordlessly toward his brother and picked up the cane at his side to help himself stand.

"Is your voice any better?" Ritsu asked as he picked up the box.

"N..o" Mob intubated for a week and having a tube inserted and inflated in his trachea had greatly aggravated the tissue there. Ritsu could only offer an apologetic look to his brother.

Ritsu readjusted the weight of the box in his arms. "You sure about this?" _About going back?_

Mob rolled his eyes and frowned as if to say, _why do you ask me to defend myself when I can't speak?_ But he did say, "ye… es."

Even if it sounded like he was gargling gravel while he said it.

"Alright!" Ritsu shrugged, he wouldn't press the issue. "So what are you thoughts on living in a dorm now?"

Mob smacked him in the arm with the cane.

"What? You don't have to be so tight lipped about it? It's a _simple question_." Ritsu skipped out of the way of Mob's follow up swing and did his best to keep his distance. "Would you prefer top or bottom- _Ow!_ Or bottom bunk?"

Mob "chased" Ritsu out the door. He certainly was much faster than he was yesterday, but not nearly as nimble as Ritsu, who was skipping steps down the stairs to escape Mob's brotherly wrath. Laughing, Ritsu bounded off the last step toward the door and turned back to see Mob wheezing and taking the stairs slowly and laboriously. Ritsu's heart sank under the weight of his guilt and he started to rush forward when Mob held up a hand and shook his head.

"Pain… ful." He mimed toward his throat, before croaking out, "mak- hard… to breath."

"But- Do you need me to get the nebulizer?" Ritsu started when Mob put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, Ritsu sighed, "Okay, do you need help with anything else?"

He shook his head no, winced as he took a breath and then he slipped his shoes on like it was any other day. It wasn't any other day, but Ritsu could learn to live with that. Ritsu _would_ learn to live with that.

"Come on Nii-san," Ritsu held out an elbow and Mob took it. "Let's go see what all the fuss is about with these new dorms."


	2. What We Say in Silence

"Do you think this will help?" Ritsu's mother asked, holding her hands pensively at her waist.

Ritsu slid his foot into his shoe and tapped the toe till the back of the shoe fit snugly. "Yeah, I think it'll be better once I see him."

He smiled despite the memory of their conversation hanging heavy in the air.

"I've got it under control today. I have for weeks," Ritsu said as he pulled on his other shoe, keeping his eyes on the ground, examining the dirt that had built up there. Soon, it would get to a point where he'd be unable to ignore it and have to clean, but he was busy today. "Anyway, we aren't meeting at the school."

"Okay, let Shige know we love him," his mom said. Her shoulders relaxed and she nodded lovingly. "You stay safe, too. Call when you get there."

"I will, mom. See you later," Ritsu said and opened the door to leave.

"Take pictures for me!"

"Bye Mom," Ritsu said over his shoulder as he closed the door.

Ritsu scrolled through his phone as the train rattled across the tracks toward Musutafu city center. He glanced absentmindedly through news articles. Interspersed among the news were opinion pieces like "_Hero Academies Post Training Camp Attack: What has changed?"_, "_League of Villains: One Hit Wonders or Calm Before the Storm?_", "_Rise in Quirk Liberationism-_". The voice over chime broke Ritsu's focus. The music cut out in preparation for the announcement. Information began scrolling across the various screens inside the cabin.

"Arriving at Station 23. Next stop: Musutafu Mall Station," a feminine voice stated right before the doors opened. Right as her voice cut out bright pop-y music resumed playing softly over the speakers.

It wasn't music Ritsu cared much for. He tuned it out as he pressed to the side of the car while people passed around him. His phone buzzed with a text from Nii-san. _I'm am at the mall. Where r u?_

_On the train still. The next stop is the mall where should I find you? _Ritsu tapped back with one hand while using the other to steady himself while the car pulled out of the station and sped down the tracks.

_Food court on the first level. _His brother texted back including a handful of food emojis and Ritsu squinted disdainfully at the bright little pictures.

He just texted back, _ok_, and returned to his news feed.

About ten minutes later, Ristu was walking through the mall when he spied Mob sitting at a table watching one of the many monitors on the wall in the food court. A baseball game was on, but Ritsu didn't know the teams all that well and he was a little more focused on his brother.

"_Nii san_!" Ritsu called out as he walked up to the table.

Mob jumped but he still turned slowly to look at his brother. Ritsu was met with a kind smile and a yellowing bruise on Mob's cheek that extended up around his eye. Ritsu felt something inside him clench violently, but he kept his facial expression even.

"Ritsu." Mob stood and hugged him, and Ritsu let the hard little stone in his chest soften at his brother's touch. Mob gave him a squeeze, firm and steady, and said, "I'm glad you could meet me here."

"I wish you could come home more," Ritsu said. The two of them hugged but the truth floated sadly in the air around him. _It's too much of a risk_. Ritsu wouldn't pass by an opportunity to see his brother, nor squander it over an old argument. "At least you got a pass for today."

"Hmm," Mob hummed happily. He pulled away from the hug. "The League of Villains has been quiet for months and no one has threatened the school or the students in almost as long."

_No one should be threatening the students at all!_ Ritsu wanted to yell but he kept his mouth shut and nodded. Uncomfortable questions still bubbled up inside Ritsu and to stop it, he changed the subject. "What store you do want to look at first?"

Mob stepped forward. "Not sure, I just wanted to wander for a bit if that's okay?"

"Mmm hm," Ritsu nodded and followed Mob. Eventually the question slipped out of his mouth. "Well, if the league isn't around... does that mean you might be able to come home?"

"No, I live in the dorms during the school year," Mob said. "They might keep us over the summer." Ritsu couldn't keep the dark look off his face but fortunately Mob didn't seem to notice, or at least he didn't react to it and continued with, "I'm not sure. That was just a rumor I heard."

"Can you really trust rumors?" Ritsu tried to mask his nervousness with a light laugh.

The careful glance Mob gave him from the corner of his eye probably meant his laugh sounded as strained as it felt.

Ritsu cleared his throat. "Let's go in this store."

Barring the shaky start, Ritsu enjoyed the time he spent with his brother as they fell into their usual sibling rhythm. Ritsu missed his brother's subtle humor, his genuine interest when he listened, and his quiet and earnest encouragement. Ritsu ached. Mob had been a presence sorely missed in his life.

"Are you hungry Ritsu?" Mob asked, his face was locked in a concerned micro-expression.

Ritsu realized he was scowling and shook off the look for a more neutral one as he dug his phone out of the pocket of his hoodie. It was almost noon, and Ritsu was feeling peckish. Mob was looking at the time on Ritsu's phone too.

Mob pointed the way they came and said, "We passed a place with American food, or there is a Ramen shop a little farther ahead."

"I don't think I am hungry for a full meal," Ritsu lied. He had spent more than he intended at the last few stores, he shifted his bag of clothes to the other arm. "Lets go back to the food court. I'm craving something sweet, I think."

Mob's expression didn't change much, but Ritsu could see Mob's happiness by slight uplift of the corner of his eyes. Together they made their way back to the food court, weaving lazily through the crowd. Ritsu pointed out interesting shops or ads and Mob would smile or laugh along. As much as it brought a warmth to Ritsu's chest to spend time with his brother like they used to, a dark feeling often undercut these moments. Peeking its head out every time the news covered another UA scandal, or everytime Ritsu saw that bruise across his brother's face.

His brother faced much higher stakes if he lost control. Ritsu hasn't had an episode since mid October, but his control seemed weakened. His thoughts trended darker and more prone to flare ups that Ritsu struggled reign back in. The school counselor had gotten involved. Ritsu suspected his vice president had something to do with it.

He watched Mob move carefully through the crowds and felt himself trying to mimic his brother. Yet, Ritsu's movements weren't right. It felt unnatural to him and he ran into people more than he avoided them. After the third time, Ritsu felt very silly and stopped. He pursed his lips trying to figure out what he was doing wrong. Seemed that where Ritsu stumbled, Mob bounced back with the same measure of control as before. To Ritsu, it was just a matter of figuring out how.

"How has school been for you?" Mob asked out of the blue. It didn't feel all that probing, but Ritsu had to keep himself from stiffening and getting defensive.

"It's been fine." Ritsu glossed over some strained relationships, his growing irritation with his quirk's interference in his day to day life and said, "I've been struggling to decide where to apply for high school, though."

"Hmm," Mob thought very hard about that one and settled on. "Reigen had some good ideas when I talked to him."

Ritsu didn't even bother trying for a polite smile. "No."

Mob opened his mouth to say something and Ritsu cut him off.

"How has school been? You mentioned that they increased your battle focused classes. So that must be tough." Ritsu was probing. _If he is uncomfortable, then… _

Ritsu didn't know why he was hoping Mob would tell him bad news, nor why he wanted his brother corroborate his suspections.

Mob was quiet for a second and said, "I have been doing better with them now."

It was not the answer Ritsu was expecting. It also wasn't the answer Ritsu wanted. UA had hero classes, but Mob hated being made to use his quirk, he always had. Desensitization was certainly a possibility. Yet, when Mob still lived at home he would be very sullen most days. Often the air was so tense it was hard simply walk past his room without getting tangled in it. Ritsu on many of these nights had even wondered if it was his own quirk tainting the air.

Yet, Mob returned again and again. He almost died due to the school's negligence and still he went back. Ritsu imagined himself doing something similar, forcing change by jumping into the fire repeatedly. He could only see himself and others getting burned. The last month of teacher's notes and talks from his parents were evidence enough. Still, Mob seems to be very willing to take the risk lately.

"How?" Ritsu asked while deep in his thoughts. _Why?_

"I've… I've changed my perspective," Mob said slowly, like this was the first time he was verbalizing his thoughts on the matter. Ritsu hung on every word. Mob didn't elaborate.

"Oh… that's all?" Ritsu asked_. What was it about UA that changed something so fundamental?_

"I like helping people. I have people I want to protect," Mob added at last. He breathed in sharply through his nose and nodded, seeming satisfied with his own answer.

Ritsu smiled. He could be satisfied with that answer, too. Mob was just doing the right thing.

"Mob! Hey!" Someone called from behind them and Ritsu looked over his shoulder to see an older boy with a quaft of blond hair and a bright smile waving them down. Hugging close to his heel was a little girl with red eyes and pale blue hair pulled up into a braided bun at the top of her head. They addressed Nii-san, not him, so Ritsu felt no obligation to try too hard. Ritsu just hoped they wouldn't talk long.

"Mirio-san," Mob greeted him and he tilted his head to the side to look at the little girl who looked at him with a hint of fear. "Eri-chan, how are you?"

She buried her face in Mirio's hip so suddenly she jabbed him with her horn. Mirio yelped and grimaced. Eri pulled away just as suddenly looking up at him with big fearful eyes.

"It's okay, Eri-chan," Mirio said, and he put a hand on her head. "You didn't hurt me."

_But you yelled_, Ritsu cocked a brow but he kept his thoughts to himself.

"I guess she is still nervous around others," Mirio said and Ritsu noticed his brother stiffen.

Ritsu could tell that Eri-chan's fear might be more personalized to his brother than Mirio was suggesting.

_Eri- Eri- Eri… _Ritsu mulled over the name and than he remembered.

She was the girl Midoryia helped rescue. He looked over at Mob who was chatting with Mirio. Ritsu didn't know the specifics of that day, Mob was often tight lipped around events with his powers. Even if it was important, like applying to hero programs that decide his future. Regardless, Ritsu knew Mob was there and what ever happened below the city had pushed Mob to his limit.

_Did she see It?_ Ritsu wondered and looked down at Eri had her face mostly buried in Mirio's leg again except for one eye that was uncovered enough to nervously watch Nii-san.

A hand was thrust in Ritsu's direction and Mirio waited for Ritsu to acknowledge it.

"We've never formally met, but I'm Mirio Togata. Your brother has told me a lot about you, Ritsu-san." Mirio smiled brightly.

Ritsu a little surprised by the honorific but he took a breath and then shook Mirio's hand. "It's nice to meet you. Are you a student at UA?"

"Yes, I am a third year," Mirio said. "I'm watching Eri for Aizawa-sensei today. I find that getting out into a neutral place like a mall is an easy way to get out around people. Also there are lots of tasty snacks here. Eri-chan, what was your favorite the last time we came here?"

"Bubble Waffles," Eri said into Mirio's hip, her voice was muffled and just barely audible over the mall crowd.

"We actually are heading there now," Mirio told them both. "Have you ever had them? They make the waffles in front of you and they have twenty flavors of ice cream and even more toppings."

"I think we-" Ritsu looked over at his brother to see an intensely interested look in his eyes, and Ritsu sighed and grumbled, "Lead the way. _It sounds great._"

Mirio chatted with Mob mostly and Ritsu did his best to keep his feelings and his quirk from spilling out into the crowd around them. He didn't want to project his bristling annoyance onto anyone else, let alone Mob. The day was going so well, he didn't want to kill the mood now.

At a few points, Ritsu caught Eri watching him when she thought he wasn't looking. A quick sideways glance, and a squint of his eyes, and she'd snap her head forward, her lips pressed in a thin line. She didn't seem to like his brother, and Ritsu knew it was dumb, _really dumb_, to be mad at a little kid about that, but he could only supress so much while these two barged into his Saturday out with Nii-san.

Ahead there was a cute little store front. The sign had a smiling waffle cone surrounded by happy mochi balls that read _Bubble Waffles_. The smell of warm waffle batter filled the area as much as the conversation from the insanely long line that wrapped around the corner.

Mirio checked his phone, scrolling through what looked like an app. "Says the wait is only about twenty minutes. That line looks rough, though. Do you still want some?"

Eri nodded her head with a determined look in her eyes. Ritsu looked at his brother._Do you really want this?_ He was met with a much more subdued but equally determined look.

"Well, if you want some... _you_ are waiting in that line," Ritsu said flatly.

"Okay, I'll treat us," Mob said pulling out his wallet.

"Oh! If you are staying behind, do you mind taking Eri to a table and watching her?" Mirio asked with a bright energy, sunny energy, that overpowered Ritsu.

"I- I guess." Ritsu found himself saying before he could think it through.

"Eri-chan, you'll stay with Ritsu-san okay?" Mirio said sweetly to her while she looked even more uncomfortable than Ritsu did, but with some quiet words of gentle encouragement and a squeeze of the hand, she nodded. Mirio walked her over next to Ritsu and spoke to him. "She likes to watch the crowds from the balcony so if there is a table open take it."

"Alright," Ritsu said. A little hand curled around his fingers. Ritsu didn't want to say it startled him, but it did.

"We should get in line," Mob said to Mirio.

"Right!" Mirio smiled broadly and then gave a thumbs up to Eri. "I'll be back super quick."

"Be good Ritsu," Mob told him, then he added is a surprisingly serious tone, "Keep her safe."

"Right Nii-san." Ritsu gave a half smile_. Be good._

He looked down at Eri and she was actively trying not to look at him. Her grip on his hand was loose at best, and where she was glued to Mirio's side, she kept a gap about her arm's length between them. Ritsu scanned the tables and saw one family pick up and leaving. It was hugging the wall that overlooked the floor below.

"Let's get a table." Ritsu squeezed her hand loosely and walked her to the table just as a worker wiped it clean.

Eri sat on the opposite side of him looking over the balcony to the people below. Ritsu pulled out his phone and swiped through his texts for updates on student council. After a while, he turned to social media to see what his friends were up to. Five or so minutes later, movement on Eri's side of the table caught his eye. She was standing on her chair listening to the music playing over the speakers with a sparkle in her eye. Ritsu listened and groaned internally. It was a popular idol group playing, but even if Ritsu liked the genre, the song _Spring Love Candy POP POP_ was painfully overplayed.

_Nii-san would tell me to make an effort. _To Eri he asked, "You like Plumb Sugar Beats?"

She nodded her head. "Do you?"

"No." Ritsu said a little harsher than he intended. He didn't want to lie to the girl, but he knew Nii-san would have scolded him for killing the bright look in her eye.

"Okay." She turned away from him and resumed watching people below.

Ritsu's jaw dropped open to say something but he closed it glumly. He had an opportunity to make a connection with her and he ruined it. Wasn't she here to get used to people again? To see the world as a less scary place and Ritsu felt like he just made that a little harder.

"I mean, it's not my kind of music but-" He stammered until Eri gave him a flat look. Ritsu stopped trying_. Fine, I didn't want to say it either._

As he looked away from Eri, he accidently locked eyes with a strange man in a black coat. It was purely by chance he caught the eyes of a stranger standing on the other side of the cafeteria across from him. Still, it felt strangely personal so he looked down at his phone feeling a little awkward. Ritsu glanced up one more time, wondering if the man had noticed or if it was just him, but the man was still looking in their direction. To be sure he wasn't crazy, Ritsu looked around and behind them. No one was looking back, and there wasn't anything but tables behind them. Ritsu was certain that the man was staring _straight_ at them. The hairs on the back of his neck started to rise and Ritsu grabbed Eri's hand as the realization struck.

He was watching _her_. Ritsu was sure of it.

"Do you know that man Eri-chan?" Ritsu asked and pointed in the direction the man had been standing_. He's gone._

Eri looked around and back at Ritsu confused. He stood up to get a better vantage over the sea of bodies but saw nothing, at first. Ritsu swore he saw glimpses of that black coat getting closer. His phone was in his hand instinctively. _I should call Nii-san._

Then mall erupted into screams and explosions and the balcony collapsed beneath Ritsu. He heard a scream shockingly close on his left side and saw Eri beginning to tumble backwards. Ritsu instinctively reached out and grabbed her hand. He pulled her toward himself as if the ground under him wasn't also falling away. For a handful of terrifying seconds Ritsu and Eri were surrounded by a cacophony of grinding and shattering stone while they tumbled together across rubble to the ground floor.

Plumes of dust made Ritsu's eyes water and his throat tighten as he struggled between gasping for breath and coughing. Hitting the ground floor with a pair of knees in his diaphragm didn't help his breathing, either. Ritsu couldn't move, or think, or hear. He could only _try_ to breathe. Eventually, his body sucked in one, deep breath of air and the world came rushing back into focus.

Eri was shaking him and weeping silently. There were tears in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, carving dirty canals down her face through white concrete dust. Ritsu blinked and wondered if his hearing hadn't come back yet.

Yelling above them told him no, he could hear. Eri was just that eerily quiet. Like someone had taken a remote and muted her. It was unsettling and Ritsu didn't have time to unpack why that was so. The villains were arguing amongst themselves, Ritsu could hear three different voices above them.

Over the speakers a fourth voice boomed. "This is a hostage situation. Come out of your hiding spots." After a moment the voice added, "Your cooperation will facilitate your survival."

Ritsu's mind worked quickly. Someone was, _had been_, watching them. The balcony collapsed. The villains are arguing. This hostage speech feels last minute.

"We are looking for one person." The same voice announced before the monitors all changed to show a single face, Eri, staring back.

Someone messed up, and they don't know where their target is. They also have control over mall systems. Ritsu unzipped his hoodie and threw it over Eri, zipping her up and pulling the hood over her blank eyes. She had already stopped crying by this point.

"Look down." He urged her_. They don't know where she is and I don't want to find out what happens when they do. _"My brother is the strongest person I know. He will help us. He- He is a hero in training. He has his permit."

Ritsu hoped his words were bringing her a sense of ease, because they were doing nothing to ease his anxiety. She slowly raised her hands to the edge of the hood and pulled it down over her forehead, flattening her bun against her head.

"I saw her over here before that idot started destroying shit." Some man said near the new edge of the balcony, prompting Ritsu to pull himself and Eri under a ledge out of view. "I could have grabbed her and we'd be done with it."

"Well that's not what happened!" Another person snapped back. "If she's been fucking crushed I'll kill him."

_They're psychotic._ Ritsu kept his arm out to his side, to stop Eri from wandering too far forward exposing them both. She didn't move except for her hands which crushed and twisted the fabric of the hoodie which fell past her knees.

"Were you not going to before?"

"I'll kill him twice."

_They are idiots and they are psychotic. _Ritsu squeezed his eyes shut. He had a moment. That was a lie, he didn't have a moment. The sound of at least two men grunting and clumsily shifting their weight across unstable stone, informed Ritsu of that much.

Little bits of rubble clattered overhead and onto the floor around them as they got closer. He grabbed the sleeve of Ritsu's Eri's hoodie and started to inch along under the cover of the rubble away from the voices. They moved quietly, hand railing the collapsed balcony. Ritsu kept one ear trained behind them as he peeked around corners, trying not to jump every time he or Eri kicked a rock, nor get angry that she seemed unwilling to walk forward on her own leaving Ritsu to clumsily drag her behind him.

Behind them, Ritsu heard the crunch two people landing on the ground floor. Ritsu gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on Eri, ignoring her small gasp as the pulled her quickly around the next corner.

"Did you hear that?" was all the motivation Ritsu needed to break into a sprint down a dark hallway.

A hallway with restrooms on the left, a door labeled '_employees only'_ on the right, and '_Emergency Exit'_ in neon red over top of a door at the end.

_Yes! _Ritsu screamed internally and he let go of Eri's and sprinted to the door, slamming both hands on the crossbar only to find that it didn't budge. Not an inch. _No! No no no no! This can't be happening. Is it fake?_ Ritsu slammed into the door again but something hard was clearly in the way as the metal of the door ground against something earthen on the other side. _They blocked the exits. _Ritsu's heart beat faster and faster until he felt light headed and his mouth felt dry. He gripped the handle until his fingers went white. _We're trapped… We're-_ Ritsu turned slowly to look back the way they came. They were heard. There was no doubt about that with Ritsu stupidly slamming himself into the metal door. There were voices in the distance coming steadily closer.

His eyes traced along the hallway expecting to see the villains pouring around the corner. Instead his eyes fell on Eri, who after he let her go, didn't follow after him and remained planted in the middle of the hallway. She trembled. Chewing her lip, balling the hoodie up in a white knuckled grip as tight and desperate as his. _She's scared…_ Ritsu breathed in sharply, as he saw her bruises and scrapes. He saw her staring blankly towards the ground with eyes hollowed out by fear, and for a brief moment he saw himself. _She's scared!_

He let go of the door and closed the distance between them, an earnestness in his voice that was missing before, "Eri-chan. It- it's going to be alright." There was no recognition in her eyes but she did flinch when he started to speak. "I'll find a way out. I'll-"

Shige always said he was the smart and talented one. By god, he needed to be those things right now. He scanned the hallway. They weren't getting outside. If they had time to block off this random emergency exit, the main doors would be blocked, watched, or both. Returning the way they came wasn't an option and hiding in a bathroom never worked in movies. Only one way in and one way out, and very few places to hide. He looped an arm around Eri, who was stiff like a doll, and propped her on his hip as he carried her to the employee entrance. He tried the handle but it stopped short with an unsatisfying click. With a breath to steel himself, and a rush of adrenalin Ritsu kicked the door in and ran through before he could dwell on the men yelling at him to stop, or before he could register the pain in his heel and knee.

Ritsu ran, abiet awkwardly with a child on his hip, through the backroom. He threw a free arm out pulling or tipping clothing racks behind him to obscure their path. A crash, followed by loud colorful cursing would have brought a smile to his face if it wasn't pulled so taut with fear. Ritsu ducked through a doorway and found himself in a massive department store, specifically the women's clothing section filled with tall, round clothing racks of maxi dresses and pants.

He set Eri down and whispered, "Follow me."

They ran through the store, Ritsu ducking and weaving through the clothing racks to break line of sight with the doorway they came through. Ritsu planned to keep running till they found the exit. His mind only worked so quick, while his legs were unfortunately quicker. Ritsu turned a corner to see two men, one with goat horns, and another with clawed hands creeping away from them down a makeup aisle. On instinct, Ritsu shoved Eri into the center of one of the round clothing racks before chucking a small glass statue past a set of escalators and diving in after her.

It was tight and Ritsu was forced to crouch and wrap himself around Eri to fit. Throwing the statue seemed like a good idea at the time, but as the villains' boots squeaked across the tile flooring toward their hiding spot and not away. Ritsu might have just exposed them more by doing that than by just simply sneaking into the clothing rack. He could feel the sway of the fabric against his back where he'd disturbed it. It was also at this time Eri was suddenly taken off mute and she whimpered into Ritsu's chest, pulling down on hard on the front of his shirt till the back of his collar dug into his neck.

_Nii-san, where are you? Is this what you train for? Are these the situations you are putting yourself in? _Ritsu could feel his quirk slipping from his control, it was too much. _How do you stand it? When you know how much is at stake when you lose control._ He anxiety rolled off him thick like molasses, and Eri's grip on him only became more desperate. _I can't lose control. I can't I can't I can't._

"Do you feel that?" One of the villains asked the other, their progression stopped. There was an anxious edge to his voice.

Ritsu placed a steady hand on the back of Eri's head. _Just change your perspective, he said. You are so good at putting on a brave face. Maybe you can do that here, too._

Ritsu closed his eyes and tried to project, _Don't look, move along._ They started to shift forward, the squeak of their boots getting louder but they were much more hesitant and careful now. Ritsu could tell that wasn't going to work and he thought of all the reasons why they wouldn't want to look. _Nothing here. _

Another step closer.

_You were seeing things._

Closer still.

_Behind you!_

Closer.

Ritsu could feel his anxiety rising and hoped they were feeling anxious too. Then Ritsu's eyes snapped open, and he projected one more thing. The feeling of _apathy_. Shifting gears from anxiety to apathy was a stuttering and uncomfortable process that started off as a sharp tingling in all his nerves that sputtered out and was replaced with a numbness that sank into his fingers and toes. Eri went from sniffling to silent. She sagged against him, seemingly unwilling to hold up her own weight anymore. The villains didn't take another step either.

"What are we doing here?" One of the men asked.

"Should we check? I swear we heard something." The other seemed a little more resolute in his words but his voice was bored and uninterested. "That might have just been some other kid. We should be searching that rubble not the women's clothing section."

Somewhere else Ritsu heard what sounded like an entire display fall over and clatter across the ground. It shocked Ritsu and he lost all focus. Eri clutched his shirt. He could feel his fingers and toes again.

"What the hell was that?" The first man said with renewed life in his voice.

Ritsu could hear their boots clomping across the floor away from their hiding spot. He parted the clothes on the rack opposite of the two villains and eased Eri and himself out. They were going to come back and check that spot. Ritsu knew he had only bought them time with that stunt. They moved a little slower and a lot lower to the ground away from the villains.

Ritsu peered around a corner into a tween girl outlet store. The place was a fair distance from the collapsed balcony. The displays of plastic and metal jewelry and accessories were still intact. It was bright and colorful and someplace you wouldn't think to hide compared to the darkened stores surrounding it.

"Come on, Eri-chan," Ritsu whispered. She squeezed his hand tightly and followed quickly after him.

Ritsu was feeling very exhausted. Maybe it was the stress, the pain, or using his quirk but Ritsu scanned the room three times for hiding spots and each pass over the store felt like his first. He rubbed his eyes. Having them closed felt so nice he almost stood there simply enjoying the quiet and the dark.

Eri had kept walking forward and the tug on his arm jolted Ritsu back to the present and he shook his head.

"Right." Ritsu followed Eri to the counter.

He looked over the edge and saw a pair of sneakers pull out of view.

"Uuuh?" Ritsu leaned over farther. "H-hello? Is this hiding spot taken?"

There wasn't a response for a couple seconds and Ritsu's attention started to shift to the open door behind them and the hallway beyond. The villains hadn't found them… yet. A sad sigh and chuckle came from under the counter.

"Not much of a hiding spot anyway." A woman crouched behind the counter, just tall enough so her blue hair and yellow eyes were visible. "My god, you two are young. What are you doing walking around?"

Ritsu had the vague idea of a reply to that but no words came out and his face crumpled a little bit. He didn't know. He was running for his life with a little girl he met this morning and he didn't really like at the time. Now he was fairly certain she would get him killed today but his brother said to keep her safe. A brother that hasn't found them yet, assuming... None of this made sense. The woman's face washed over with pity and guilt and she quickly unlocked the gate on the counter and let them through.

"Look, I just work here, I tried the exit out back. It was blocked from the outside." She explained quickly and quietly as she ushered them into the back room. "Unless you have some strength enhancing quirks? No? Neither do I, but I can hide you in one of these lockers."

She opened a white cupboard and pulled out a large utility bin. Crouched over, Ritsu could fit even if it was uncomfortable. Eri had plenty of room. Together it was a tight squeeze. The worker gave them a weak, toothless smile as she closed the door. Ritsu could hear plastic scraping against the tile. She must have slid the bin in front of their door. It was a pointless defense but Ritsu's anxiety eased ever so slightly anyway.

"Are you okay?" Ritsu whispered. It felt like a question he could ask now that they've stopped running.

She didn't say anything but he felt her horn rub across his chest a few times as she shook her head no. Ritsu laughed. Quietly, but he honestly laughed. It was a brief but lovely release from the stress that was strangling his heart.

"Dumb question," he conceded and tried to shift his legs and hips into a more comfortable position preparing for a long wait. "If we're lucky the heroes will get here before the villains do."

With a faint smile on his lips Ritsu gently tapped one of the drawer walls with the knuckle of his index finger. Just in case. Eri snuggled up against him, trying to find room in this cramped space. A few times she pressed hard on his gut as she shifted around, rattling against the door. Ritsu did his best to keep from making pained noises as she settled but he did kick the wall by accident once when she elbowed him in the crotch. Eventually she stilled and gave a defeated sigh. Ritsu felt her settle against him and he in turn settled against the wall.

_Nii-san, where are you?_ Ritsu looked at the crack in the door. It was dark, the worker had shut the light off a while ago and it was only marginally brighter out there than it was in this storage space. _I hope you are okay._

Ritsu figured it had been ten or fifteen minutes tops. Maybe less, since the seconds seemed to have stretch into minutes after they had fallen from the balcony. His brother was powerful and he showed that power in times of stress. What could be more stressful than a hostage situation where the villains are after your younger brother? Although, Mob wouldn't know where he is right now. Did he think he was dead? Would that make it more stressful? Or was that not enough? Ritsu's face scrunched up in confusion. What was Mob waiting for?

_Unless…_ Ritsu felt tears start to gather in the corners of his eyes and he blinked them and the thought that inspired them away.

Somehow Ritsu drifted off into sleep. He jolted awake following a loud bang in the room next door and the terrified screams of a woman. Eri was clutching his shirt again and Ritsu pulled the hood over her head, ignoring the futility of the action. The cupboard they were in was very hot and Ritsu could feel the sweat soaked into his shirt and his mouth was dry as sand.

He didn't want to fight. He prayed that they'd just move on. Threats were being thrown around and Ritsu's mind felt too garbled to pick out the specifics. Ritsu tried to concentrate on his quirk and repeat his success earlier but the crick in his neck, his parched throat, and feeling light headed from heat and the stale air, was making it hard to project anything other than vague exhaustion. He slumped against the wall again, his chest heaving against Eri's weight. The air he sucked in was hot and dry.

That women cried in the next room and then he heard loud footsteps enter the backroom. Bright light broke through the cracks around the door. Ritsu flinched as the storage bin was thrown across the room and slammed loudly into the far wall hard enough he could hear boxes falling off a shelf. When the doors opened, cold, fresh air rushed into the space and Ritsu had one second to enjoy it. When that second was over he curled protectively around Eri and glared at the two men.

"Get out of there." The man with the clawed hands ripped Ritsu out of the cupboard roughly by the arm and he tried to pry him off of Eri.

Ritsu reactively threw an elbow back and stuck the man in the eye. He swore and stumbled back, clutching his face. The other villain with the horns grabbed Ritsu's shoulders. So, Ritsu reached out to the counter and grabbed a wrench and tossed it behind him. A grunt and the release of his shoulders was all Ritsu needed to grab Eri and sprint with her into the store front. Their moment of rest was nice, but it was over.

A few displays were knocked over and it slowed them down enough for a very irate looking goat man to stumble into the doorway followed by a clawed man with a new red eye.

"You fucking punk," the horned villain seethed and kicked a toppled display over "I am going to wring your skinny little neck."

"Not until I take one of his eyes," said the other man as he raked his claws across the door frame, leaving behind four gouges in the wood.

"Eri!" Ritsu picked her up and dropped her on the other side of one of the fallen displays. "Run!"

She squeaked when she hit the ground. Ritsu saw her only hesitated long enough to see him try to hop the same display and be thrown backwards by the horned villain. He made a hollow grunt when his back hit the hard floor. He couldn't dwell on it for long before Ritsu had to roll out of the way of not one, but two attempts by the horned man to stomp him. Aiming first for Ritsu's chest, than his head. Without time to even breathe, Ritsu pulled himself under a table narrowly avoiding being slashed by a clawed hand. Ritsu felt sick seeing the gouges in the floor where he was. Just out of sight, Ritsu could hear Eri scramble across the scattered earrings from toppled displays, slipping on the little slips of plastic toward the door.

"Hey! Get back here!" The clawed man who had been menacingly approaching Ritsu spun around and ran after her.

Ritsu lunged forward and grabbed his ankle, tripping him. The man cursed as he fell forward and smashed his jaw on a glass display case. Ritsu watched blood spurt from his mouth before his fell sideways striking his temple against the corner of another display and collapsed unconscious onto the floor.

The victory was short lived for Ritsu. A booted foot struck Ritsu in the chest and sent him skidding across the floor into the legs on the opposite side of the table. The horned man grabbed Ritsu by the front of his shirt and pulled him out from under the table and into the air. He growled than slammed Ritsu into the table top. Little makeup displays and glass bowls of accessorarries dug painfully into his back and ribs as the man ground him into the table. Ritsu cried out in pain but he was picked up and slammed down onto the table again and the breath was knocked from his lungs silencing him. Ritsu heard something crack and he wasn't sure if it was the table or if it was him as his whole body screamed against the abuse. Ritsu was lifted into the air again and he braced himself for a third impact.

The horned man snarled in his face. "I hated him but that was a mistake, 'cause I hate you a lot more right now."

Ritsu struggled in his grip, kicking wildly in the air in an attempt to hit anything. His feet struck but it didn't seem to do much anyway. Ritsu reeled, trying to think of something as he clawed at the hands holding him, and he kicked at the body of the person attacking him. A fist came flying towards his face and Ritsu just barely got his arms up in time to prevent the full force of the punch from striking. Although his defense weakened as his strength failed and his arms started to drop right before the second punch landed. Ritsu felt something rupture and his nose start to bleed.

Ritsu kept his arms up trying to block any consecutive strikes. He squinted through the pain as he searched the room for Eri. He couldn't see her anywhere and breathed a sigh of relief just as he was slammed back into the table.

Ritsu's head cracked against the table top but he gritted his teeth and seized the glass display bowl with one hand and smashed it against the man's head, or at least he tried. The bowl didn't shatter but the dull grunt from the man and the atonal ring of the bowl harmonized for a second in a strangely satisfying way. The grip on Ritsu loosened as the man stumbled to the side clutching his head. Ritsu sagged against the table, unable to hold his own weight up for a second, but he stumbled to his feet just before the horned man could. Ritsu wasn't given a chance to recover and he wasn't about to give the villain a chance to breathe either. Resolute, Ritsu gripped the bowl in both hands, and putting his back into it, he swung down onto the man's head. The bowl shattered spectacularly across his horns and the force slammed the man's face into the tiles. The villain let out one, pitiful groan and he too was unconscious.

"Ha…" Ritsu stumbled backward a step.

The world spun lazily and Ritsu abruptly lurched forward and clutched the same table he had just been beaten with for stability. Pain bloomed across his torso and limbs, and Ritsu couldn't do anything else but breathe. If he was going to be honest with himself, right now it was enough to just _breathe_.

"I'm sorry," a pitiful voice said from behind the counter.

Ritsu couldn't even bring himself to raise his head to look at the woman. Ritsu assumed she looked apologetic, or at least guilty, because she sounded like she was. Although, with pain flaring across his body from most likely his many broken ribs, Ritsu couldn't give two shits if she was sorry or not. Pain fueled fury filled the air like hot steam in a sauna. If it didn't hurt to do so, he would have smiled when he heard her gasp and duck out into the back room.

Although Ritsu did frown when he heard the crunch of plastics from heavy footsteps entering the store.

"I- I'm sorry."

Ritsu's head snapped up and looked to the door to see Eri with tears welling in her eyes and her entire arm held at a painful angle in one, large, meaty hand.

"I didn't run fast enough." She hiccuped and looked down shamefully.

"Its- It's…" Ritsu wanted to say it was okay, but looking up at the man holding her and how he seemed to fill the entrance, and how comically small he and Eri were compared to him was really not okay, "We'll be okay. Eri look at me."

She glanced up but her look of hope contorted into a grimace of pain as the hand squeezed her arm.

"Hey!" Ritsu shouted and his quirk erupted around him in cutting waves of fury, "Leave her alone!"

The man squinted and recoiled slightly like he had gotten too close to an open flame. He then smiled. "You do that?"

He ignored Ritsu's order and pointed at the two goons sprawled unconscious by Ritsu's feet. Ritsu spared a glance and when he looked up the large man was nearly upon him. Ritsu cried out in surprise and stumbled painfully into the table behind him. He reached out for something to strike the villain but he himself was grabbed instead. Ritsu was slowly lifted away from any potential weapons by the jaw and neck. Panic set in as Ritsu's airway was restricted. He glared viciously at the man, Ritsu's panic turned to anger. His quirk was lashing out around him to little effect. The man peered at him curiously for a moment, looking like he was contemplating something.

Ritsu felt the man's thumb start to push toward his index and middle finger with Ritsu's neck caught precariously in the middle. Ritsu coughed and the blood pressure in his head was almost as painful as the pressure being exerted on his neck. His legs twitched and squirmed while he weakly beat and pulled on the fingers.

Strangely at this moment Ritsu heard the light pop-y sounds of Sugar Plumb Beats and thought angrily, _I can't believe I'm going to die in a tween store to the sound of Spring Candy Love POP POP._

"Stop it! You're hurting him." Eri screamed and tried to pull her arm free with all her strength.

Ritsu fixed the villain with a death glare. The villain laughed heartily. It only made Ritsu focus his fury onto the villain who cringed under the assault.

"I'd be careful with those murderous vibes there," he said at last. "Especially when I've got my hand around your throat."

Ritsu's anger turned to horror at the realization. He froze clutching at the hand around his throat.

"Oh, I felt that too." The man said and he lessened the shearing pressure on Ritsu's throat. "You're spunky and I like that. Also you somehow managed to lay out two of my guys so I don't know if I should keep you or kill you."

Ritsu swallowed and his throat rubbed painfully against the villains hand.

"You're not going to get very far." Ritsu choked out. The fight hadn't quite left him and he had plenty of anger he didn't know what to do with. "My brother will wipe the floor with you if you kill me. So go ahead! My only regret is I won't get to see him smear you across the ground-"

The hand tightened around his windpipe and Ritsu couldn't breathe in or out. Ritsu admonished himself, _Stupid, stupid, stupid! What is wrong with you?_

HIs eyes started to roll back into his head and the world turned hazy when the pressure released and he dropped to the floor. Ritsu coughed and sputtered on the ground. He wasn't aware of anything other than the sensation of being lifted by the front of his shirt and his heels dragging along the ground. After a minute or so Ritsu realized the man was talking to him and Ritsu's head lolled in his direction.

"...it'll be a while till- Ah let me guess you didn't hear a word of what I just said?" The man gave him a big toothy grin, "Doesn't matter, I was just babbling. You have a brother here?"

Ritsu suddenly reached up and dug his fingers into the man's arm as a warning.

"I'll take that as a yes." He watched Ritsu who did his best to project the feeling of _stay away from him_ into the villain's mind. "I like this hostile little act you've got going on. The brat here is so unresponsive."

He shook Eri and she whimpered but cut herself off quickly.

"My brother will stop you." Ritsu swallowed the blood from his nose, it was thick and made him nauseous.

"We've been here for almost thirty minutes. Where is he? Unless," he peered at Ritsu a little harder, "You wouldn't happen to be Kageyama?"

Ritsu would've recoiled if he wasn't held so tightly by the villain.

"Yeah… Yeah! I saw you brother. You have the same hostile little face."

_He's alive… _Ritsu's grip relaxed just slightly.

"Yeah, he's not going to help you. He's been sitting obediently with the rest of the hostages." The villain smirked as Ritsu's face fell. "He even went so far as to help us move the rubble. Hero types I swear."

Ritsu felt everything tune out. _He isn't coming..._ Ritsu stared at the ceiling as he was dragged along, his thoughts didn't have much form but there was an undeniable flicker of betrayal. Ritsu was jostled slightly.

"Don't tell me you lost all your fight already?" The man laughed at his expense before tossing him on the ground like a used towel. The villain turned away and started talking into a phone. "I got the girl."

"Ritsu!" Mob cried from the crowd and he heard him stand and hushed whispers begging him to sit back down.

"Don't you dare," The villain snapped, the warning in his voice was strong.

Ritsu felt waves of force ripple across his skin, mimicking that same warning right back at the villain but eventually it retracted. Ritsu vision started to blur but he could see enough to see Mob's blurry form sit back down.

Seeing it first hand, was worse for Ritsu. Mob wasn't going to help him. Ritsu groaned in pain as he shifted his body to look in the direction of his brother and glower.

_Nothing? All this and you have nothing? _Ritsu seethed. Bruises flared across his body, sharp pain from broken bones prodded at his mind like cattle prod. _I thought you were dead. Twice in one year, but you were fine and I'm the one got smeared across the floor by three different villains. _

Ripples of power started to flow across his skin, but they were more hesitant and guilty. Ritsu was too dizzy sit up let alone to stand and he had no strength left to fight physically. So he latched onto the one thing he could still control, his anger. Ritsu gritted his teeth, and looked at the brother he could barely see for answers to questions Ritsu asked though silence.

_All this talk of hero work and when I need you, you're not there? Are you kidding me? Do you have to suppress your emotions anymore? Or did UA just make you more numb than before?_

A heel caught Ritsu in the side and he involuntary cried out as he rolled over his cracked ribs. A few more taps with the heel, each sending a shooting pain through Ritsu's body, and Ritsu was lying supine and looking away from his brother.

"Hey! Stop aggravating your brother." The villain snapped at Ritsu and he returned to whispering angrily into his cell phone. The villain's face marred in confusion.

Ritsu looked up to see Eri sitting quietly with her knees pulled to her chest under the large hoodie. He reached out and touched her shoe, and tried to project some sense of comfort. Of course now Ritsu's quirk decided to fail him and all he could offer Eri was a battered hand. She reached down and held his fingers tightly. Ritsu rested his head against the cool floor and waited to be taken away by the villains. At least Eri won't be alone.

The flurry of action that takes place, not even a minute later, largely passes unnoticed by Ritsu while he lies in a daze on the floor. Pro heroes came crashing through the ceiling and rushing down the halls so quickly no one in the room could react fast enough. If there was a fight, Ritsu wasn't aware of it. It wasn't until someone crouched over him asking if he is okay that Ritsu realized something was happening. Someone was telling him he's safe now.

Ritsu started to put his muddled thoughts into some kind of working order as paramedics carefully turned him over and set him in braces. He looks over in time to see Mr. Aizawa talking to Mob. Mob is looking down, his face a mask, but a hand on his shoulder from Aizawa and kind nod soften Mob's look. Aizawa gestures in Ritsu's direction and Mob sprints over to Ritsu's side.

"Ritsu!" Mob called out to him, sliding across broken glass on his way over.

He stopped just short of the gurney Ritsu was strapped into. Mob's hands trembled has he reached out to touch his brother like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

He didn't touch him though and instead he carefully gripped the side and said breathless, "You're alive."

"You're not hurt." Ritsu replied automatically, his words flat and slurred.

Mob nodded and bit his lip. Behind his eyes Ritsu could see Mob's mind reeling. Bits of Mob's hair was floating around him and his aura of power was pulsing across Ritsu's skin but Mob didn't break. Aizawa slowly approached, his eyes locked on the two brothers.

"But I am." Ritsu felt like those words carried a hidden weight to them.

"I know, I know." Mob stammered, before adding quietly, each word laden with immeasurable guilt, "I should have been there."

"Yeah, you should have been," Mob looked as if Ritsu had just slapped him and Ritsu felt an ugly sense of triumph at the sight of Mob, mouth in a stunned 'o', eyes wide, his face forced into something more than a microexpression. Ritsu didn't continue that thought, but he did lock eyes with his brother. Both of them, just one looking into the other with so much to say between them. Although, that's how they've always communicated the most important information right? Through silence. Ritsu swallowed some mixture of blood and spit that gathered in his mouth, and said to the medics who looked fearful to interfere. "I need to go to the hospital."

Ritsu felt a heavy blanket of apathy fall over him, numbing his fingers and toes, and more importantly his emotions. His brief prompt was enough to start wheeling him away to the ambulance when Shigeo reached out and touched his arm.

"Ritsu, I'm coming with you." Shigeo said, his eyes still wide, his fingers steady.

"No, I think… I don't need you to be there for me." Ritsu felt some pressure in him release, like when Shigeo touched his arm it popped some bubble Ritsu had been living in. Ritsu felt relief.

Shigeo pulled back, his face unreadable as Ritsu was carried away to be loaded into the ambulance.


	3. Needs and Wants

Ritsu opened his eyes to a hospital room. Unlike the sterile white of the ICU Ritsu was looking at dark wood paneling and cream colored wallpaper. The beeping of machines were about as quiet as the TV that was barely above mute. Nothing was on but commercials selling products to the elderly. It wasn't hard to ignore, but he'd rather turn it off. He looked to his right and left but the side guards were blocking his view of the end tables.

Ritsu gingerly adjusted his weight so he was sitting up, the memory of pain blooming across his body from the assault filled his mind and made Ritsu guts twist. Except his movements weren't painful or limited. He very easily eased into a sitting position without aggravating a single bone or muscle.

Ritsu looked down at himself. Also unlike his brother, he wasn't loaded down with tubes or sensors. He only had a single IV for a saline drip, and a soft wristband that was connected to a heart rate monitor. Fortunately, he was wearing a hospital gown and Ritsu was spared the embarrassment of waking up half naked in a hospital, but he couldn't remember changing. He pulled open the collar of the gown and looked down at his chest and stomach expecting bruises and bandages, but his skin was unmarred. His chest and stomach moved normally as he breathed.

Everything he was expecting wasn't there and Ritsu felt tension drop from his body he didn't know he was carrying. He'd at least expected a soreness in his neck.

The tension returned as he suddenly felt along his jaw and neck. Bile bubbled up in his throat as a memory crawled from the back of his mind of the villain slowly scissoring his neck with only a couple of his fingers . Ritsu's leg involuntarily twitched as the phantom pressure built in his head. He gasped as his breathing and heart rate increased with the sense of an ever growing and unlocatable threat. Ritsu's quirk popped and fizzed striking out randomly around him, crackling through the room like thunder and lightning.

A nurse entered his vision, but the memory was superimposed on everything Ritsu saw. He tried to find her but he couldn't escape the cycle emotions and visuals as his life was held in the hand of someone who apparently took joy in watching Ritsu squirm. Ritsu was overwhelmed with a helpless and directionless fear, he couldn't stop his quirk even if he had enough of a mind to do so. He just wanted run and freeze and fight and hide and... a sudden drowsiness overcame him. The energy needed to sustain the memory and his quirk dissipated. The tendrils of raw emotion around him laxed and evaporated.

The room still held an unnatural emotional charge as nurse took a couple of moments to breathe before she addressed him.

"Kageyama Ritsu?" She asked and when Ritsu nodded, his face confused as his mind and body were slightly out of sync, "I am nurse Asa and I just gave you an injection of an anti-anxiety and muscle relaxer. You were experiencing a severe panic are in Mustafu General Hospital, you were brought here following the attack on the Mustafu Mall two days ago. You are safe now. The villains have all been captured and they cannot hurt anymore."

Ritsu followed her words, but he felt so relaxed they took longer than normal to stick.

"I feel weird." He said sleepily.

"The effects will last just a couple hours." She told him, he watched her drop something in a red 'Sharps Hazard' box on the wall by his bed, he struggled to process what she threw in there until his brain caught up with his eyes, "You'll just feel a little sleepy and maybe a little nauseous later but it'll pass."

"I want my mom." Ritsu rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand, the words lacked the anxiety they should have had. Everything was being heavily filtered by the drug introduced into his system. Ritsu found that verbalizing his wants though, that became much easier, "I want my dad. I want something to eat."

"Your parents are here and I'll contact them and let them know that you've woken up. As for eating you will have to wait an hour, but I'll bring you something. For now, just rest. I'll come in and check on you in a bit." The nurse placed a firm but gentle hand on his shoulder, "You are safe now."

Time passed for Ritsu in a warm haze. He wasn't sure if he slept or if he was just awake and zoning out but his parents arrived sometime later and Ritsu pulled together enough consciousness to hold a conversation with them. His father gently held the side of his head with his hand while His mother showered him with kisses. Ritsu found he clung to her with a desperation he was struggling to register.

"Shige is coming to visit after school." His mother told him happily, "He was here yesterday. He brought his school teacher Recovery Girl to heal your injuries."

"He didn't have to." Ritsu slurred out, he was starting to feel drowsier, fighting to stay conscious was taking its toll.

"He saved you weeks of recovery." His mother told him but her voice got more and more distance as Ritsu slipped into sleep, "He… worried sick… loves yo-"

When Ritsu woke he was in the same bed, the same room, but his parents were gone. Also gone was the haze of the drug and Ritsu tried to recall when his parents had left and what conversations they had. Ritsu looked at the clock next to his bed. 10:23 pm on a Monday.

"You're awake ." A different nurse said as she entered the room, she checked his chart and some readouts on the machines, "Kageyama Ritsu, How are you feeling?"

"When did my family leave? How long was I out?" Ritsu needed to get groundwork of his situation laid out.

"They left about two hours ago, visiting cut off at 9 pm." The nurse answered cheerily, "Now are you feeling any physical discomfort?"

"No."

"Recovery Girl has an amazing quirk doesn't she?" The nurse said more to herself than to Ritsu but Recovery Girl's name sparked a fuzzy memory in Ritsu's head, he didn't have enough time to nail it down before the nurse asked him another question, "Can you tell me how old you are?"

"Fourteen" Ritsu answered.

She asked another question before Ritsu could, "Do you know where you are?"

"Mustufu General after the villain attack." Ritsu was irritated, he squashed down his quirk as it pressed against his skin like thousands of little needles, "Why am I still here? I'm fine."

"You'll be staying here for observation for the next few days." She explained sweetly, like it might be too complicated for Ritsu to understand, "After your panic attack we want to make sure you don't have any follow on episodes and that you speak with the psychologist. Also the drugs used can have withdrawal symptoms, nausea, cramping, or sweats, not that you'll experience any of those after only one dose. We don't want to send you home until we are sure you are one hundred percent better! It's all _very routine_ hospital procedure."

It was hard to not feel like he was being punished for his panic attack if that was what that was. The nurse chattered on with other questions and she helped him to the bathroom, even though he didn't need the help. He got the distinct feeling she wasn't allowed to leave him alone, the room was emptier of loose objects and cords than it was before. Ritsu felt that buzz under his skin again, tried to swallow down the negative emotions but his control was fragile and damaged. It could be from the drugs used on him earlier that day, or he might still be stressed from the incident at the Mall but without any visible injuries left, it felt like a year ago, not two days. Regardless, Ritsu could feel his quirk leaking through the cracks in his composure and just wanted to get back to bed as quickly as possible.

He ate dinner and watched TV for a couple of hours until he felt tired enough to sleep. Ritsu really wanted to use his phone but that was crushed under about a metric ton of concrete at the mall. Out of the corner of his eye he spied the nurse or a tech peaking in more frequently than seemed normal. Around 1 am Ritsu turned off the TV and the lights and laid in bed.

The next day Ritsu met with the psychologist for only an hour. Ritsu answered his questions quickly and only with enough to satisfy the doctor, trying to push through the appointment. The psychologist seemed to push back, trying to coax more information from him. When he left the room Ritsu was newly labeled with PTSD or anxiety or something like it. Ritsu didn't take much stock in what the man had said because it hardly seems fair to slap a label on him when he was sure he gave entirely normal answers. Anyone would be stressed after an experience like he had, he didn't want people putting labels and all the connotations they had on him. He had enough to deal with already. Despite Ritsu's best attempts he was scheduled for more follow on appointments after he left the hospital. Ritsu gave the man a smile but his quirk gave away his disinterest and annoyance with the whole procedure. Ritsu figured that was going to be a talking point in the future.

Ritsu wallowed in his bed. He couldn't figure out how is brother did it. Mob could control his powers and handle stress, but Ritsu couldn't. He couldn't and he became such a nuisance that he had to get a therapist to figure it out for him. He chewed these thoughts until they were an angry mash of emotions.

It was further aggravated by the news that a police officer was coming to visit to get statements regarding the incident. When the nurse left he grabbed his pillow and pressed it over his face. He wanted to scream into it, but he thought of the nurse peeking in ever so often. He was new and Ritsu wasn't sure if he'd panic and he didn't really want to get sedated again. Ritsu put the pillow back behind his head and clamped his mouth shut. He continued to chew on his thoughts, feeling a bit like a cow chewing on cud.

The officer, when she arrived, was a kindly looking woman. She stood in the doorway and knocked on the frame.

"Can we come in?" She asked, "I am here today with the hero Eraserhead!"

She said it like that was an exciting fact. Eraserhead wasn't really the most popular hero, least of all with children. Ritsu also didn't think he had a choice in whether or not they asked their questions, although she made it sound like he did. For a brief second he toyed with the idea of denying them entry, but he just wanted to get this over with.

"Yes." Ritsu felt trapped in his bed as an officer and the hero Eraserhead came into his room.

"Thank you for meeting with us today. I know this isn't pleasant and we don't want to make you relive such a traumatic experience, but we need your help to properly charge these villains with the crimes they have committed against you and others. You are considered a primary witness to the events at the mall." The officer explained in a soft, motherly voice.

Ritsu had a mom. He didn't need another.

"What do you want to know?" Ritsu asked in a prickly tone.

The officer obviously didn't react to it, but she did take notice, "We need to know what happened after the balcony collapse."

Ritsu's brows furrowed and he balled in fists in the hospital blanket.

"Its okay if its too much right now. We can come back later." The officer said, her kindly act was under assault as those pin pricks of stress started to force their way out from under Ritsu's skin.

Ritsu felt that strange numb buzz like something shorted out in his brain and he slapped the back of his head. Eraserhead's eyes glowed red like his brother's. Ritsu watched him cautiously until Eraserhead closed his eyes a moment later and the sensation stopped.

"I guess I know why they brought you here." Ritsu grumbled spitfully under his breath.

"I am just the hero assigned to this case. We need this statement. We can come back later, but I will tell you now, it isn't going to be less uncomfortable." He still had that tired, matter-of-fact tone of voice.

For some reason, Ritsu read it as patronizing and he snapped, "I know! I- I can do it just- just give me a second. I'm thinking of my words."

"Okay. Take your time." Eraserhead said and he pulled up a chair so he was at eye level with Ritsu.

Ritsu started to explain, but shortly into the story the officer and Eraserhead's questions made Ritsu realize just how much he'd forgotten. His concept of time, and the order of events, was jumbled and having to put them in order and explain them was extremely difficult. Some events he remembered in such sickening detail he had to stop before he got trapped in the memory. Others events he could hardly remember how he got from point A to point B, let alone how long he was in each location. The officer assured him it was normal to have a spotty memory following a traumatic event, and the words made sense, but Ritsu felt like he was lying. Telling a story he was a third party observer to. Like it wasn't his story to tell. Fortunately, they didn't ask him how he felt about the events at any one point through the story. They just wanted a chonological order of events to collaborate and inform their records. Any emotions that were dug up were done so accidentally. Like kicking up silt in the bottom of a lake as you root around for stones and shells. Unfortunately for Ritsu, silt takes a while to settle and at the end of the story he was left feeling agitated and tired.

"Thank you Kageyama Ritsu, you were very brave going through that with us." The officer closed up her book.

"So am I done?" Ritsu was exhausted. If this was the end of his involvement with the Mustafu Mall incident he wanted to hustle them out of his room, and his life, as quickly as possible.

"Well, you are a witness and you'll have to testify in court in a few weeks." The officer said delicately, she was fighting against a panicked edge in her voice from a growing panic that wasn't hers, "You'll be perfectly safe. You just have to answer one or two questions and they will less invasive than ours even."

Ritsu heart pounded in his chest and it felt like it was slowly crushing his lungs against his ribs leaving a vacuum in his chest. He didn't want to face them again. He used up his bravery, or maybe he knew better how dangerous they were. Either way, he didn't want to be in the same room with them ever. Ritsu felt so small as he looked up at the two adults with pinched brows and fear pulling tight the corners of his eyes. _Wasn't once enough?_

Eraserhead put a hand on the officer's shoulder, "I can handle it from here."

She nodded and gave her best sympathetic smile to Ritsu, "Thank you again."

Eraserhead waited for her to leave, watching till she closed the door behind her before addressing Ritsu, "You're scared to face them again. You got hurt the last time you met, but this time it will be different. They will be in chains and you will be surrounded by pro-heroes and behind ballistic glass."

Ritsu balled his fists in the blankets again, trying to dry his palms. He didn't comment or respond to what he said. Pro heroes would be there. He wouldn't be scrambling through darkened store fronts, barely keeping himself and a little girl alive while villains much bigger than him and all too willing to do violence were on their heels. He would be safe because it wouldn't be like that at all in court. He knew that… He knew that, he knew that, _he knew that._ Ritsu just tried to calm himself by taking slow shaky breaths and not dwell on the memories.

"You don't have to go up to the stand alone. You could bring your brother with you." Eraserhead told him.

"No." Ritsu said sharply.

Out of the corner of Ritsu's eye he saw that Eraserhead watched him closely. Ritsu didn't need his brother if he couldn't rely on his brother to be there when he needed him. Ritsu swallowed down betrayal and grief like bile. He was certain he could learn to live with that.

"Have you talked to Shigeo since the mall?" Eraserhead asked.

"I don't want to talk to him." Ritsu fixed his gaze on a point at the end of the hospital bed, he didn't want Eraserhead to see the flicker of doubt in his eyes.

"As an aspiring hero Shigeo has a lot to think about and to consider. He has a responsibility to everyone's life. It might be hard to understand, but your brother made the right choice. It wasn't easy but it saved lives." Eraserhead didn't pursue the previous topic any further and said, "There are other options. You can bring any family member, or they have therapy dogs that will stay with you. You will have to appear in court no matter what. You don't have to decide now, your parents will get a packet of information about the trial and what you are being asked to do."

"Why can't you just use the story I gave you today?" Ritsu wanted to push the conversation farther from his brother.

"You have to go on record in court. This was just for the police's files. Eri will have to take the stand as well. It'll be her second time so you can always ask her about her experience." Eraserhead said.

Ritsu broke his gaze on the end of the bed to see if Eraserhead was serious. He remembered she was once held by villains and the mall was her second run in, not her first. With that in perspective her strange behavior, silent crying, freezing, and the detached way she acted made horrible sense. Ritsu could, in small ways, sympathize, but he couldn't imagine having to go through what they did twice.

"How is she?" Ritsu couldn't remember what happened to her. His memory was fuzzy between when they were dropped off with the other hostages and his last conversation with Mob, "After we got taken by that villain I don't…"

"She's okay." Eraserhead said and Ritsu sighed in relief. Eraserhead walked to the door and opened it, "She wanted to visit you so I brought her with. Eri-chan we are done."

Eri popped her head in the doorway, her wide, red eyes landed on Ritsu and she approached the bed slowly, even though her body seemed to tremble with excitement. She wore a dark hoodie that didn't seem to be the same color scheme as her bright skirt and leggings, and carried a plastic bag in her hands.

"Hey Eri-chan." Ritsu said softly.

The look of understanding he got from her seemed beyond her age. Ritsu realized with a somber smile that they shared a level of camaraderie that would never share with anyone else. Ritsu swung his legs over the side of the bed and patted the spot next to himself. Eri climbed up and sat down. She kept a respectful distance from him. Her expression while bright, had an undertone of trepidation to it.

"This is for you." She said and dug a wrapped present out of the bag and held it out for Ritsu.

Eraserhead took the plastic bag and shoved it into one of his pockets. He couldn't tell if Eraserhead was smiling at Eri the way he hid half of his face with his capture weapon, nor did Ritsu want to stare, but Eraserhead had a kindly, fatherly look to him Ritsu hadn't seen before. He really hadn't thought that expression was possible on him either, but Ritsu spends about as much time thinking about heroes as he does his teachers' lives outside of school.

Ritsu turned the present over for a second and ripped into it. Inside was a matching hoodie to Eri's. It was a girl's hoodie and it looked like she found the largest size on the kids rack she got her own from. Ritsu glanced quickly at Eraserhead and he just shrugged. Ritsu understood, _go with it_.

"Thank you. Is this so we can match?" Ritsu laid the hoodie across his lap.

Eri scooted closer and nodded vigorously, "We can match… and I ripped your other one. I'm sorry."

Ritsu smiled, "I think I was the one who ripped it. Don't worry about it okay? Thank you for the hoodie."

"Try it on." She bounced on the bed.

_Go with it_, Ritsu said to himself as he unzipped it and pulled on the child's extra large hoodie. Apart from his IV arm, which he didn't bother trying to fit into the sleeve, Ritsu found that the hoodie fit, _great... I'm an extra large child._

"We match." Eri said as she pulled on the hood held out her arms and Ritsu did the same and the smile she had when he did so silenced that harsh inner voice.

"We do…" Ritsu was surprised by Eri's resilience, she seemed to find a way to smile after a terrible experience, "Should we wear these hoodies at the stand?"

Eri's eyes sparkled for a second as she considered the possibility then said determinedly, "Yes."

Ritsu felt a shred of relief, something to look forward to even if it was small, until he suddenly had a thought and looked at Eraserhead, "I mean if that's allowed."

"I don't care. Whatever makes you comfortable." He shrugged, completely indifferent to the idea.

Eraserhead left the room to treat both Ritsu and Eri to lunch.

"Are you scared to go to the witness stand?" Ritsu felt so blunt and ungraceful asking.

He was almost twice her age, and it was strange wanting to seek advice from someone as young as her. Ritsu didn't know what to expect. He hasn't been very good at predicting anything since his brother got hurt. Although his track record was poor even before that.

Eri's smile dropped and Ritsu regretted the question until she answered with, "No, because I won't be alone. Mirio-san and Midoryia-san, they will be there to protect me and so will Aizawa-san."

Except they weren't there for her. Mirio was as trapped as his brother and Midoryia was nowhere to be seen. Part of Ritsu wanted to point this out. Part of him wanted to play a million what-if's. What if the pros didn't come? What if they got taken away? What if? Ritsu happened to have enough of a mind left to him that he kept his questions to himself. The questions weren't fair and were born out of a sense of jealousy that seemed baseless to Ritsu.

Ritsu let Eri handle most of the conversation going forward. She showed things off to Ritsu and Ritsu having learned his lesson feigned interest if he needed to. Eraserhead brought food to the room from a Mobdonalds. It was about thirty minutes later that Ritsu noticed someone else at the door.

"Mob" Ritsu greeted coldly.

Mob hesitated by the door and was surprised to see Eraserhead and Eri already sitting in the room with Ritsu. Eraserhead gathered up Eri in his arms and grabbed their trash from lunch.

"Eri-chan say goodbye. We have to go back home." He told her.

"Bye Ritsu-san." Eri twisted around his Eraserhead's arms to wave goodbye to Ritsu.

"Bye Eri-chan." Ritsu waved back.

Ritsu and Mob waited for them to leave. Every few seconds Mob glanced at a slip of paper in his hands.

"Ritsu I'm so happy you are okay." Mob started to cross the room. When Ritsu looked away from him Mob's voice wavered but he persisted, "I was very worried about you."

"Were you?" Ritsu said low.

The corner of Mob's eyes pinched slightly. He was too far away for Ritsu to discern if it he was flinching or squinting in reaction to Ritsu's question. Frankly, Ritsu felt like his temperament was far too aggressive in response to the soft way his brother was speaking. He was just so mad at so much and his brother was one of the items on that list and available right then and now. Ritsu let his quirk roll of his skin like steam and it held Mob a few feet back.

"Ritsu…" was all Mob said, and it was so quiet, hurt, and heavy with emotion that Ritsu quirk reflexively withdrew as the surprise quelled his anger, "Are you okay?"

Ritsu gestured broadly at the room as he snapped back sarcastically, "I'm fine. Isn't it obvious?"

Mob looked at the paper in his hand and at his brother. Some inconsistency between what was on the paper and what Mob was being asked to answer was clearly driving the anxious tremble in Mob's eye.

"Please tell me whats wrong." Mob's face was still that subdued concern but he rubbed his thumb back and forth in the palm of his hand and when Ritsu looked away he said, "I want to help you Ritsu."

"Now you want to help?" Ritsu said, he felt the words form in his brain, and tumble off his tongue all on their own. He was angry enough at everything that lashing out at his brother seemed like the only way to relieve the burning, gnawing feeling inside him, "If you couldn't figure it out by now whats the point in trying?"

"Thats not fair." Mob snapped back, this time his powers flared and Ritsu shrank back in his bed, "I don't know how to read others Ritsu! I thought- you have always been smarter, stronger, and more in control. I thought you were doing fine and- and... but you are not. You're in pain. I want to help you but I can't if you don't talk to me. _I need you to tell me whats wrong_."

"_I need to talk to you?_ You don't tell me anything! You applied to UA and I didn't hear about it until after you got your acceptance letter! You suddenly are okay with using your powers against people except when it means _saving your brother_!" Ritsu cowered no more, tendrils of power indignantly reaching out for Mob, "_You _changed the plan. You had control of your emotions and you didn't put yourself into stressful situations. I thought you knew the risks and I respected _everything_ you did. No- no- no matter _how much_ I tried to copy you I couldn't do it and it made me realize how strong you were and I only respected you more!"

Mob was stunned silent, the only move he made was the gradual rise of his hair around his head as he listened and the continuous rub of his thumb in his palm. Without pushback, Ritsu only kept going.

"You don't fall to anger, or pride, or grief and- and you aren't petty or vindictive and all I do is hurt others with my quirk. I thought I understood what I needed to do to handle it because I watched you, but you changed and it doesn't make sense!" Ritsu at some point as he spoke had gripped the front of his hospital gown and slowly tugged on it until the top button on his back snapped open, "Where were you?! Why didn't you help me at Mustafu?"

He emptied his lungs and his heart in one tidal wave of information and he sucked in a lung full of air to fill the vacuum in his chest. Ritsu realized he didn't breathe once during that entire rant. Mob's eyes were wide and his thumb dug into his palm until it left a painful looking red mark as he tried to process the information while under the assault of Ritsu's quirk. The air in the room quivered and the windows shook slightly, buffeted by a phantom wind.

Gradually the wind died down and Mob's hair fell back into place albeit slightly more ruffled than before.

"I was so relieved you were alive. When the smoke cleared and I saw the rubble but I couldn't find you I-" Mob paused, his face slackened but Ritsu knew it he brother long enough to identify the expression not as indifference but as horror, "Mirio-san… he helped calm me down, without him I think I would have lost control. They said they had hostages across the mall, if that one villain, the biggest one couldn't contact the others for even thirty seconds they would start killing and they wouldn't stop until they themselves were taken out."

Ritsu swallowed thickly.

"I was so- so-" The flat affect broke and anger flared across his face, and through his powers, then it was followed by fear, "scared. I wanted to go find you. I begged the villains to let me search the rubble for you. You weren't crushed, but that meant I didn't know what happened to you."

Maybe it was a rare perceptive moment of Mob's that he seemed to read the question right off the top of Ritsu's head.

"I really did think I could take them. Mirio didn't know. He asked me, if I couldn't stop the villains in time how many people would get hurt? The villains weren't hurting anyone yet and pros were already on the way. If there was a negotiator, he said that I could destabilize the situation, and you weren't crushed and you're smart and I thought you could hold on-"

Ritsu struggled to follow as Mob's reasons started to jumble together. Mob had reasons. He had a lot of reasons and he had to think of a lot of lives all at once.

"When you said I wasn't there for you… You were right." Mob almost had to choke the words out, "Everything… it was all excuses and I couldn't protect you. Mirio… Aizawa-Sensei… they said I made the right choice but I don't feel like it."

Mob had to choose between waiting for the pros and hoping Ritsu could survive, or ensuring he was safe, but possibly trading other people's lives for his. Ritsu didn't know what it said about himself that he would have followed through with the latter had he been in Mob's position. It wasn't numbness that stopped Mob, it was overwhelming empathy. Ritsu loved that about his brother, but never had it backfired on him like this before.

"You…" Ritsu said and he was surprised by the way Mob's eyes and face snapped up to look at him, the hope, the fear in his eyes about what Ritsu was going to say. Aizawa's words rattled through Ritsu's mind and he found they fit the situation well, "You did what you could. You have a lot to think about. You have to protect everyone when you are a hero."

"Its not just that. I haven't been there for you. I assumed you were okay and I didn't even know you were struggling." Mob sagged on his feet, "I didn't even think that you were watching and trying to copy me because I was failing at controlling my quirk."

"You weren't though." Ritsu shook his head, "I know you struggled but you always had the worst of your emotions under control."

"That's not true." Mob said, his eyes downcast, "I still let my emotions get the best of me."

"-Well maybe, but you don't lose control as often as I do." Ritsu countered. Anxious, defensive, or even self deprecating were all feelings Ritsu could tack on but he couldn't figure out which it was, "We can't be careless with our emotions. We- we have to squash them down and keep them under control. Our quirks are dangerous."

"They don't have to be." Mob said, "Is that really how you think I manage my quirk?"

"It worked didn't it?" Ritsu asked, waiting for Mob to be forced to agree.

"It didn't." Mob shook his head and he fixed Ritsu with a concerned… no apologetic look, "I don't want you to copy me. I wasn't happy. I wasn't even sad or angry or, or… I wasn't anything until I was something one-hundred percent. I lost control… a lot. I never told you. I didn't want you or anyone else to worry. I think- I thought it was-" Mob's hand twitched in pain as he dug into it with his thumb, Ritsu suddenly had the urge to reach out and stop him before he hurt himself, but he didn't and he let Mob work through his thoughts on his own, "I didn't think you'd need to copy me... It isn't a good way to live, its was hardly living. I don't want you to live like that."

"Then what do you do now?" Ritsu realized he didn't know what his brother did, he never really asked, "How do you stop from losing control?"

"I'm still figuring that out." Mob's voice wavered, and he dropped his gaze, unable to handle the intensity of Ritsu's for very long, "I changed my perspective with the help of my friends. I don't worry as much about not feeling or feeling and I think-"

Mob's words seemed to fizzle out. He reached down and picked up the paper again and Ritsu watched him read it trying to find an answer. He didn't have one for Ritsu and Ritsu laid back on the bed and closed his eyes.

"You might not think so but, _you can_ control your power and I can't." Ritsu started off with the first thing that came to his head, "Did you know I have been losing control and its only gotten worse since you were attacked?"

_Shameful shameful shameful_ cried voices in Ritsu's head. He opened his eyes and found Mob at the side of his bed, little flinches of pain across his face as Ritsu's emotions washed over him.

"I didn't." Mob said with his own sadness as well as Ritsu's fueling the bright aura around him.

"They are sending me to therapy now." Ritsu said ashamed, "I couldn't figure it out and now they say I need professional help."

"I'll go too." Mob said suddenly.

"You.. you can't come to my therapy sessions." Ritsu's quirk suddenly shorted out with confusion and the room dimmed as Mob's aura clicked off like a bulb with a busted fuze.

Ritsu was fairly certain that wasn't allowed, but he really didn't know how therapy worked.

"Oh!" Mob shook his head, "No, I'll also go to therapy. On my own… With my own doctor. Its- it's a great idea."

Ritsu was taken aback.

"I don't know how to fix this, and I don't really know how to help myself and I want to support you. I just don't have the words, or the direction." Mob said sadly, "Maybe we can learn how to do this together with the help of people who know how to handle stuff like this."

"Thats… really mature." Ritsu finally said, "Aren't you worried about people thinking your crazy?"

"I don't think anyone thinks I'm normal." Mob said wistfully, "but my teachers have therapists and I have been too nervous about getting one myself, but if you have one I think I feel brave enough to get one too. It's a little inspiring."

Ritsu's heart fluttered at the praise, "I- I didn't have a choice. It wasn't my decision."

"I'm still inspired. You are so strong. You are my pride and joy and you have always done the things I couldn't." Mob eyes had a proud sparkle to them, "I know this is good. It's good to get help."

It was all to surreal. Five minutes earlier Ritsu was hot with anger and brimming with disgust towards Mob. Now those emotions felt alien to him, like they were an act he'd put on for some faraway audience. Yet, those emotions had been his and he had felt them and Ritsu felt incredible shame for harboring them with such fervor.

Tears started running down his cheeks before he could think to stop them and Ritsu pushed his brother away from the bed. Or at least he tried, because Mob pulled him into a tight hug, his own cheeks were hot and wet.

"Nii-san please, I can't stop them." Ritsu cried. It was going to be too much for his brother and it would be his fault for pushing Shigeo over the edge.

"I know you said you didn't need me to be there for you-"

"But I _want _you to be there for me!" Ritsu interjected and the truth hit him harder than he was prepared for.

Eri's confidence was starting to make a little more sense. Sometimes, Ritsu was going to be alone when bad things happen. It was an uncomfortable fact he suddenly felt ready to face. Eri depended on Togata, Midoriya and Aizawa-san to be there for her in the aftermath and recovery. He didn't want to learn to navigate this new reality, not alone, and Ritsu was relieved that he wouldn't have to. His Nii-san wouldn't abandon him. Ritsu was so consumed by the opposing wants of pushing his brother away and wanting to cling to him tighter he almost didn't notice they had started floating.

"I- I have to go to court and face those men again." Ritsu said, he didn't need to verbalize how he felt, the emotions jumped from him to his brother like a spark from a metal knob to a finger, "I don't want to go alone. I want you to come with me."

"Of course! Of course of course of course!" Mob nodded and shook his head not able to pick a direction, but the gesture was understood all the name by Ritsu, "I'll be there this time. You won't be alone I swear."

The blinds on the windows rattled and bent as they and every other loose object in the room was raised up against the ceiling. Ritsu hissed painfully as the IV stand pulled away from his arm so Mob hugged it close but the motion drew everything in the room into a slow, narrowing spiral around the two brothers as the pressure of Mob's power closed in. Once his influence was retracted from the door it burst open.

"Kageyama, put you and your brother down!" yelled Eraserhead from the doorway.

Mob stuttered out some kind of apology. Ritsu figured that if he couldn't hear it, there was no way that the pro hero did. Eraserhead glared viciously, but the heat of the glare was fueled by deep concern. Ritsu was gently lowered onto the bed by Mob who moved with the same caution as a theif caught red handed stealing from a convenience store by a cop. Just as Ritsu felt his weight settle onto the mattress he felt that numbing sensation as the floating items clattered to the floor around them. They broke away from their embrace to clutch the backs of their heads, Ritsu involuntarily slapping his like he was swatting at a bug bite.

"Sensei I- I-" Mob stammered as his teacher stormed past him over to Ritsu, not even bothering to look at his student.

"Are you okay?" He reached over and steadied the IV pole before it fell over and ripped out Ritsu's IV line.

"Why? Do you think my brother would hurt me?" Ritsu snapped in retaliation for his Nii-san's distress.

Eraserhead closed his eyes, taking the risk of another quirk powered outburst by the brothers so he could give one exasperated, highly annoyed sigh, "Kageyama, you're lucky your brother is unharmed but you just destroyed his room."

Mob fiddled with his fingers as he looked around. The loose items were enveloped in a bluish purple glow and they started to lift off the floor and return to their places. Mob went so far as to straighten the bent blinds. Roughly the room was back in order and the glow faded and Mob looked at his teacher cautiously optimistic.

"Don't think that means you are off the hook." Eraserhead said firmly and Mob glupped and paled slightly, "You can come in now."

He said that to the nurse and tech outside the room who hesitantly stepped past the threshold. When they weren't blasted from the room or struck with some foreign emotion, they rushed to Ritsu bed side and checked his IV and vitals. The brothers were scolded for different, but adjacent, reasons. When it was over, they were both silent and still stinging from the experience. They also weren't alone anymore either, with Eraserhead taking a begrudging vigil in the corner while Eri played games on his phone. It was a party of four until the visit was over.

Ritsu tried talking with his brother, but he couldn't go very long without addressing the hero in the room, "I decided to bring my brother with me to the stand."

Eri looked up and opened her mouth to say something but Eraserhead's gentle hand on head quieted her.

"Are you sure? After what just happened?" Eraserhead asked, his words carrying an unwelcome truth to them.

"This was just… we were just-" Ritsu couldn't believe he was denying this. Eraserhead was the one who suggested his brother after all.

"You don't think that the stand will be emotional?" Eraserhead asked, "You and your brother seem to feed into each other and an outburst like that will not go over well with the judge."

Ritsu went silent.

"Sensei." Was all Mob said and Ritsu watched his brother direct and hold eye contact with Eraserhead, "Please, I can do this… I _need_ to do this."

Ritsu could tell there was weight and history to that comment he wasn't privy to. It was short hand for a longer conversation his brother had with his teacher.

Eraserhead didn't soften but he did relent, "I'll see what I can do, but we are going to have to work on your control before then. You'll take extra lessons with me starting tomorrow. Consider it part of your corrective action for your behavior today."

Mob paled again, but he pursed his lips and nodded. The room might have been tense, but Ritsu was overcome with a sense of ease he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe they didn't have the answers today, but Ritsu didn't see a future where he had to go it alone anymore. He let himself sink into the pillow and chuckle to himself.

"Today was a busy day." He said to the ceiling, enjoying the watchful and loving gaze of his brother as he did so.

Several weeks later, Ritsu donned a hoodie like battle armor. He met with Eri and they shared the same pained expression as they waited. She had Togata and Midyoria ready to stand beside her and what looked like a quarter of his Nii-san's class (including Midyoria) dressed in their hero costumes ready to sit in the courtroom in support. A small army of heroes to flank and defeat her enemies if need be.

When Shigeo arrived he was in a nice dress shirt and slacks. Ritsu didn't want a hero. He wanted his brother. He took the stand with his brother beside him. Shigeo gently squeezed his hand as he had to relive parts of that terrible, horrible day and confront who had hurt him. Nii-san would always be there to support him. It wasn't in the same way as before, but Ritsu was happy.

In the end, Ritsu knew, when it mattered, he could always count on his brother to be dependable.


End file.
